Just Beyond My Reach
by Mismatch-lover
Summary: REWRITE of "Just Beyond My Reach, My Assassin". Forgetting everything, Narina finds herself in the middle of a war that is hidden from the world. With the help of Ezio Auditore, she uncovers secrets from the past, about herself, and about what the war is actually all about. Ezio/OC
1. Impossibilities

**This is a REWRITE of "Just Beyond My Reach, My Assassin"  
****which, yes, I give myself permission to do so.**

**-So, I realized that my fanfiction could use a few tweaks here and there. And since I'm bored in college (God forbid that I don't party), I decided to start a project to basically...well, rewrite my fanfiction. Why try to fix something that's not broken? Because I started writing that fanfiction back in sophomore year of high school. I think I can update it a wee bit.**

**-I plan to make things run a bit smoother in this version—maybe answer a few unanswered questions. Now that I know how the whole story is going to happen, I can write it easier and better.**

**-I'd like to thank all of those who have supported the old Story and I appreciate you for looking this one over! If you're new to this story, WELCOME! :3**

**-Like I have pointed out in the older version, this story is not your average "girl falls into game" story. Please give it a chance! I hope the writing is more appealing this time through!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Impossibilities**

* * *

Tad was turning 18. It was strange to consider that we were all growing up so fast all of a sudden. Somehow, I felt like the years had passed by far too quickly. And things had changed. High school had put us through hell and back, our friendships torn and worn from the wear of time. It was strange to even consider that Tad wanted us to hang out for his birthday—he had plenty of other friends. But, perhaps he too felt the strange slip of reality and was trying to grasp a hold of a past that had long passed.

I sat in the passenger side of Natalee's car, my best friend driving me across the valley we lived in to go to this party. Devin, Libby, and Mitchell sat in the back, all of us planning on going and sitting with Tad one last time. Life was going to change so fast, just like the fall was changing to winter. Change was hard. I never liked it.

The party was sad, almost as if it were a goodbye to the childhood we were all so close to losing. We ate ice cream and watched a movie. As the sun set against the mountains, Tad pulled out Rock Band so we could all join in and play together.

One or two songs into the game, Tad answered his phone and quickly agreed to something over the line, setting down his guitar.

"That was Nick," he mused, looking up at us. "He's throwing a party over at his house—we all in?"

I glanced at my friends. I wasn't much for drinking—it caused problems. I had always known that, it seemed, like I had learned a lesson far in my memories. The rest of them all reluctantly agreed, shuffling towards the door. I stood a moment, seeing everything suddenly slipping through my hold, like broken glass falling from the window sill. As I stepped towards the door, I looked back over my shoulder at the couches, TV, and the abandoned video game—looked back at my innocence, my childhood.

Couldn't we play this game forever? Never leave? Never have to say goodbye and make any other decisions than what song to play?

Among the game cases that lay scattered, abandoned on the floor, I saw the familiar red and white title, "Assassin's Creed II", the game that both Tad and I had been in love with years before. I wasn't entirely sure why I loved it so much—the story line intrigued me, although I knew deep inside it had been tweaked and morphed into a total facade. A facade of what, I'm not entirely sure. Wouldn't we rather play that game? Kill some people? Live in some other life for a while, in make-believe?

"Kay? C'mon, let's go," Natalee called to me from the front door.

I looked up at her, away from the games.

_Please don't let it fall out of my reach_.

My sight went blurry, like tears had filled my eyes, so I blinked to try and hold them back, but instead, I found myself crumpling under my own weight, falling to my hands and knees. My mind was suddenly reeling and a sharp bolt of pain ran down my spine, making me gasp out in protest. My consciousness fluttered like an old film; soon, I couldn't concentrate on anything. Before I knew it, I was out.

Strange images flooded to my senses, some I couldn't even comprehend. It hurt to see them, like it tore a hole in my heart every moment they floated before me.

No.

Stop.

I don't want to remember.

Not now. Not ever.

_Stop_.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open.

I was laying flat on my back, staring up into a dusty ceiling, where a huge hole was allowing sunlight to stream in and land on my face. Small dust motes floated about, sparkling in charming glitters in the buttery light. Gazing about in my limited position, I saw that I seemed to be in an abandoned house, the room all empty except for a few broken crates and chairs, along with broken beams up towards the ceiling. Through the jagged hole, I saw a flock of birds fly by in the light blue sky, and everything seemed to flood over me then. The smell of foul waste and trash came to me, and I nearly gagged. Voices floated through the hole in the ceiling, some lost, foreign words that I couldn't quite understand. As if the thought triggered to fix a glitch in my brain, I suddenly could understand the words, and realized that it was Italian.

What was I doing here? What happened?

...Who was I?

My own name was foreign—I couldn't quite remember it.

I shifted, sitting up as I rubbed my head. An aching pound resonated at the back of my skull, telling me I had whacked it against something. Humming under my breath, I pushed myself so that I was standing up, gazing about more intently. Something caught my attention. I was sitting in a pile of broken tiles and wood. Had I been the one to crash through the roof and make that hole? I was wearing a dress—a summer dress, so the fabric was much lighter and was a deep blue. The skirt was covered in a thin layer of dust, and I brushed ineffectively at it, trying to make it look a little bit better.

Through the hole in the ceiling, I heard loud, angry voices, footsteps running across the roof. I jerked my head up, staring up through it to try and see what was happening. Some form of fear knotted in the pit of my stomach as I waited. When a mans face appeared through the hole, I took in his features, his harsh, dark eyes, deep frown, and nearly shook in fear. He was going to kill me—I didn't know how I knew, but I did.

Gathering my skirts into my hands, I looked for the nearest exit. There was a door across the way that was nearly falling off of its hinges. I bolted towards it, pushing it open more so I could squeeze through. At my push, the door creaked loudly and its rusty hinges snapped, the door falling backwards into the empty room. I squeaked, barely dodging the heavy piece of wood before it dropped loudly to the ground, making dust erupt under its fall as it banged loudly against the floor. I couldn't give it any more consideration. Stepping over the door, I began to run down the nearly empty street. As I reached a good thirty yards away, I heard a man scream "There she is!". I looked back over my shoulder, seeing three men—the one I had seen before, another who looked very similar to the first, and another who wore something akin to a headdress and I couldn't make out his features—jumping off of the building I had just been in. The fall seemed like nothing to them, and they were standing upright once again, running straight at me.

Fear took a firm hold of my heart, thrumming it loudly inside of my chest as I looked forward and continued to run harder than I had before. Why were they chasing me? Why did they want to _kill_ me? No. No, they weren't going to kill me. But I had a sickening feeling that it was something far, far worse than death.

As I ran, I began to find more and more people around, standing at stalls and walking by. Perhaps if I could find a big enough crowd, I could lose myself within and get the men off of my back. The rhythm of my feet pounding against the stone path below me, my eyes darted across the tall buildings and alleyways to try and find a perfect get away.

I turned my head to gaze back over my shoulder. One of the men was right behind me, reaching out to grab my shoulder. I cried out, and bolted to my right, dodging his grab as I ran down an alley way, squeezing through the narrow path as I climbed up and over the boxes. Watching over my shoulder, the men seemed to have no trouble of simply jumping over the obstacles, their athletic skill so much higher than mine. I wasn't going to be able to get away, was I?

When I gazed back forward, I saw a crowd gathering at the end of the alleyway, excited voices humming in a low tone, though I couldn't make out any of the single words. I saw it more as an opportunity to get away, so I ran a little bit harder, pushing into the crowd. As soon as I was in the swarm of bodies, I began to duck and weave around people, trying so hard to remain undetected. I made sure I took weird, jagged paths so that the men chasing me couldn't follow so easily. After I traveled through the excited crowd, I found myself standing next to a very tall man, who didn't even notice me, his eyes locked on whatever was in front of him and the crowd. I hid by him, my tiny body hiding perfectly behind his. I held my breath, hoping silently that I wouldn't be found.

"What's going on?" a man next to the tall man asked."_Un'altra lotta_? (Another fight?)"

"They're all idiots! _Spero che siano puniti dalle guardie!_ (I hope they're punished by the guards!)" The tall man responded, gruffly grunting and folding his arms.

I must have taken note of the conversation to try and keep myself from panicking, my heart still racing fast from the run. In a sudden split second, the crowd shifted awkwardly, and then every one had turned and was leaving. My hiding spot disappeared in the flow of the crowd, and I was nearly swept away. I pushed against the crowd, know that if I followed them, it would be the end of me. I had to get out of here as soon as possible.

Finally, I broke free from the crowd, finding myself standing at the edge of a bridge. On the stone bridge were several people, all on heaps on the ground, groaning and clutching at their stomachs. The few closest to me had bloodied noses and swollen lips, a fight having really just taken place. My attention was brought back to the middle of the bridge, where a man actually stood. He held another man by the collar, spitting in the unconscious man's face, before throwing him aside. The standing man was tall, lean, a young man, maybe around eighteen or nineteen. His face was strong, and his hair was dark, pulled back into a low ponytail with a red ribbon. Maybe I made a noise, or moved a little bit, but something drew the attention of the man towards me, his eyes landing on me. He had the most beautiful golden eyes, almost like an eagle's gaze. There was blood on the right side of his face, a gash running through his lips that bled down his chin, dripping down onto the white collar of his shirt.

In that moment, I knew I could trust him. There was something...eerily familiar about him. Something that told me he was my friend.

Then I heard the men pursuing me call out again, and I quickly looked back over my shoulder. With the crowd gone, they had easily found me. One was swinging a cloth around, something weighted at the end of it. Fear ran through me, and I quickly ran forward, prepared to run once again. I made eye contact with the dark haired man again as I took one, two, three steps away, before something whacked into the back of my head, making my consciousness scatter, and I was down, falling to the stone bridge, becoming something akin to the beat up men all about me.

It was sad to say, but out of all the things I didn't remember or know about myself, I knew it would all be over far too soon.

My mind fell into nothingness.

* * *

**Okay! So rewritten chapter one is done and over with! I decided this time through, I'm not going to do the whole "chapter zero" thing because that caused some problems along the way.**

**I hope that this time through some things will make more sense and will flow better. The first time through when I wrote JBMRMA, I didn't really have a plot in the beginning—that came much further down the road, so things were a little...weird. That's the awesome thing about finishing a story—you figure out all these ways that you can write it better. I tried to make this one sound more mysterious, giving more questions in the beginning and everything. Maybe my writing has gotten more crap than it was before...if so, I apologize.**

**I didn't want to spend too much time on the beginning with all the friends. I wanted to emphasize that she was scared about losing her past, which is basically the main point of this entire story. **

**I'm in College, as I said before, so don't expect these to come so...well, swiftly. I haven't gotten much homework yet, so I will probably be loaded here in a few weeks.**

**Thanks for reading and please review! :)**


	2. The Auditore Brothers

**-Chapter two already on it's way. It's weird—you'd think that writing a story/chapter would be easier to write when you have already written it before. But this...well, good God, it took some time. I wanted things to be different and more realistic. I hope this seemed more like that.**

**-Okay, I really do mean it this time when I say I might not update soon—I had the weekend, but now I don't. This next weekend will probably get a chapter, seeing how my friend will be out of town and everything.**

**-Thanks for the reviews!:  
****Dragon's-Maidens  
****Dimples1476  
****OSR fanatic  
****miruka67  
****shipplove844  
****sofarsogood99901  
****ZetaAdele  
****Guest  
****Liliesshadow  
****MaryandMerlin**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**The Auditore Brothers**

* * *

I could vaguely remember being picked up off of the stone, my consciousness fading in and out. Something warm and coarse brushed against my cheek as if to make sure my skin was still warm. There was a voice, but I couldn't make out the words all too well—there was an unbearable ringing in my ears, drowning out all other senses for the moment. Then I was jerked around, thrown up over something so that I hung limply around an object. I couldn't concentrate enough, no matter how long I struggled to regain my composure. I had to keep running.

The object that I was leaning against tensed and then began to jerk around under me, making me sway awkwardly from side to side. In a split second, I had complete control again, and I revolted against the object as I started to try and get away from whatever held me. When I opened my eyes, however, I had to stop as fear was shoved down my throat. I was staring down at the streets from well above thirty feet in the air. Instead of trying to get away, I wrapped my arms around whatever was taking me up the side of a building, gripping onto my only chance at life. Under my secure hold, the object seemed to relax a little bit.

"Hold on tight, water-eyes," a voice told me, deep and comforting. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

"Put me down," I demanded, although I still clung to him, contradicting my own demand.

"And let those men get you?" The man—who was obviously carrying me over his shoulder as he scaled a building—chuckled under his breath. "Not a chance. We're going to help you get away."

I was a little skeptical and a little miffed about how he was so eager to help me, but I didn't say anything more, allowing myself to hold onto him tighter to show him I was going to let him help. The ground was further and further away, until finally, the man huffed loudly and stopped his ascent, angling himself in a strange way.

"Take her, brother," he heaved, bumping the shoulder that I was over up. "Here—can you sit up a little bit, water-eyes?"

"Water-eyes?" I frowned, but let go of the man's waist as I pushed off of his back to help me straighten out over his shoulder. As I moved, another hand seized my upper arm and drug me up off of my perch, settling me down so I was standing on a rooftop. I watched as the dark haired man heaved himself up onto the roof, looking down over his shoulder for a moment before he looked up at me. He had to have been older—maybe in his early twenties—his hair a dark brown and eyes a kind hazel. As he took a step towards me, I realized just how masculine he was, how his stride seemed to enunciate every manly thing about him.

"Let's go," he said in a hushed voice, taking a hold of my arm and pulling me after him. We began to follow after another man who was jumping across the roofs already, making a path for us to follow after. I realized, as the other man looked back at us, that it was that one guy who had beat up all of the men on the bridge, his golden eyes flashing in the setting sun's light. It had to have been the late fall considering the brisk wind that would rise every now and again. The man who had a hold of me made sure that we took safe routes across the rooftops, making it so I never had to jump across on my own. At one point, he looked over his shoulder, smiled like he had a secret, and called ahead to the other man, his brother.

"Ezio! We're in the clear!

At the words, all the excitement seemed to die down, left upon the rooftops as the older of the two helped me down off of a low roof he had found. I took his hand for help as I jumped down to the cobblestone alleyway, hiding between buildings. I took the opportunity of our close proximity to study him—how much taller he was than I, how he didn't seem that out of breath, how he wore such fancy clothing, and how it didn't make any sense for him to be running around on the rooftops.

"Where in Italy are we?" I wondered out loud, an outburst, bringing the man out of his silent observation of his surroundings.

He looked down at me, his jaw and chin covered in stubble. "Can you not tell, _bella_? This is _Firenze_."

"Florence? Truly?" I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I knew it wasn't where I wanted to be.

"_Si_." He paused for a moment, studying me quietly with one brow raised. "What is your name, water-eyes?"

In mid-exploration of the buildings around me, I found myself at a lost. I really didn't remember my own name? Had that fall back in the abandon house really messed up my memory.

"Well, it's not 'water-eyes', so you can stop with that," I started, reaching up and touching at my eyelid. Did I have blue eyes, or was it some kind of sarcasm I wasn't entirely familiar with? "But in all truths..." I suddenly became bashful, not really understanding how I could become so very timid. I twiddled my fingers together, watching the way my digits brushed against each other. "In all truths, I don't even remember."

"You don't remember your own name?" The man replied, raising a brow skeptically. "If you don't want to tell me, you can just say so."

I was momentarily distracted, looking quickly to my right to see the younger brother come walking up to us, his face still smeared with red blood that still gushed from his lip.

"It's really not that," I started after a short pause. To make my point clear, I looked up at the man and stared him in the eye. "I truly don't remember."

He must have seen the truth in my eyes, for he nodded slightly."Well, what happened then? What _can_ you remember?" He asked, still a little skeptical.

I took a breath, puffing my chest out as I prepared to defend myself. "The only thing I remember is waking up in a pile of wood, staring up at this hole in the ceiling, like I had fallen through it. I think I must have hit my head hard enough that I...well, forgot everything prior to that. Even things such as... my family, my reason of running from those men, and my name."

"I think I've heard of some people going through that," the one who had been called Ezio claimed. "Then they have trouble remembering for the rest of their lives."

"Do you really think it's true then?" I wondered, looking to the younger one. "Is there some way to fix it?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted, shrugging. "Can't say for sure. We'd have to ask a professional."

"We'll have to call you _something_ though," the elder mused, stroking his chin in thought. Almost immediately, he snapped his fingers and grinned, an idea lighting his eyes. "We will just call you Narina from now on."

"'Narina?'" Was that even a common name? How did he come up with _that_? "Is that even Italian?"

He laughed. "It can be, if you want. But in some countries, I know it has to do something with the sea. And you have eyes that are the color of the ocean, just as blue and just as deep."

I paused for a moment. Was that him flirting? I reached up and touched my eyelid again, trying to recall what I looked like exactly. "Narina it is, then," I murmured, dropping my hand.

"This is all fine and dandy and everything," Ezio mused, causing our attention to shift to him again, "but I really need to be on my way to the doctor. Now would be nice." He had his hand pressed to his lips, the blood smearing in red streaks across his hand. His hair was longer than the older brother's, and his golden eyes were somehow a shade different. He allow his hand to drop as he spit out blood from his mouth, giving me a full view of the gash marring his lips.

"You two are brothers, then." It was a statement, not a question.

"_Si!_" The elder threw his arm around Ezio's shoulders, dragging the young man close. "The Auditore brothers at your service, milady!" He grinned, wiggling an eyebrow at me. "We're quite infamous, you know."

"Oh ho, is that so?" I replied with a smile, folding my arms. "I would have never guessed. I'm afraid if I had known of you both before, I don't recall. What are your names?"

"I'm Federico," the older one introduced, dipping into a low bow as he grabbed my hand, pressing his lips to my knuckles. He stood straight, gesturing to his younger brother. "And this is my dear brother, Ezio."

"Charmed," I mused as Ezio, too, bowed and simply took my hand into his without the kiss, obviously not wanting to smear his blood all over me. As he dropped my hand, I felt my head tip to the side. "So, do either of you know exactly who those men are?"

They glanced at each other, shaking their heads. "No. We've never seen them around the city before."

"Oh." I sighed. "Well, thank you for helping me. But I really must keep moving—they'll find me if I stay in once place for too long." I turned to walk away.

"Why are they after you?" Ezio asked despite his his eagerness to get to the doctor. "I've never seen men so actively go after women in the streets before—you're lucky your head isn't split open by the rock that they threw at you."

I turned back, my dress slippers sliding noisily against the grainy stone. "I don't know," I admitted. "I forgot that too. All I know is that once they catch me, I'm doomed."

"So, where do you think you're going?" Federico asked, folding his arms. "If you can't remember anything, where the hell are you going?"

I stopped, trying to think of where I needed to be. But nothing came to mind, so I shrugged. "I'll find someplace."

He was already shaking his head, reaching his hand out to me, 'tsking" under his breath. "Come now, Narina—don't be so rash. Follow us for a moment longer and we'll get things figured out for you. You've a better chance of escaping those men with us, right?"

I wanted their help. They were nice, and they were my friends—I knew it. But I felt like I shouldn't get attached so easily, like that would give me a weakness. But I didn't have anywhere to go. Sighing, I rubbed my neck. "Well, okay. But I need to try and remember what the hell is going on."

"Of course, of course. We'll ask the doctor if there is anything we can do for once we get there for Ezio."

My mind opened up to the new opportunity, and I felt something akin to excitement. "You really think so?"

"I know so." He smiled warmly as he took a hold of my arm. "Besides, we can't allow a pretty, young lady to walk around by herself. There's more dangerous men in this city than the ones who were following you."

Understanding his point, I allowed him and his brother to lead me out of the alley. It took a few turns and corners, but we finally found the main street, many people walking by in a slow pace. Federico kept a good eye out over the crowd as if expecting enemies lying in wait for us to fall into their trap. Then we would move, joining into the flow of the crowd, gaining a few looks from the way Ezio's face was smeared with blood. I kept glancing up at Federico, watching the way he would gaze over the crowd unintentionally as if trying to see a face that he recognized for better or for worse. I started to get the feeling, when I put together the fact that they could both scale buildings as if superhuman and the way he could gaze over the crowd and ignore all of the noise, that Federico wasn't just a normal man. It wasn't as obvious with Ezio—I wondered why.

"So, Narina." I glanced over at Ezio, pulling out of my quiet thoughts. The younger one was looking at me from the corner of his eyes, his lips smeared with blood. "Do you know where you're from in Italy? You haven't been here in _Firenze_ for that long, right? Surely we would have seen you about."

I tried to peer into the darkness of my mind, but it didn't seem to help any. Still, I didn't think that Florence was of any home to me. "Well, I don't believe that I'm a Florentine, but I don't know where I'm from otherwise."

"You speak perfectly Italian, though—it would be hard to imagine that you weren't born here in this country."

"Born..." The word seemed to spark something inside of my mind, but it slipped away before I even had a chance to truly assess what it was trying to tell me. I shook my head slightly. "Yeah, well...I suppose I am Italian."

"Foreign women have bigger noses," Federico commented randomly, gesturing to his nose. "You have an extremely petite nose—I've seen that as a common trait in Italian women."

Even if half the things he said about my unknown face were compliments, I suddenly became very self-conscious about my face, and reached up to touch at my indeed small nose.

"You don't remember what you look like, do you?" Ezio pointed out, noticing the way that I always touched at my face with my fingertips, trying to engrave some picture in my mind that way.

Even more self-consciousness. "Um...no." I mumbled, dropping my hand, bowing my head as I felt slight warmth in my cheeks.

"We'll have to get a mirror for you later," the younger Auditore said with a lopsided grin, too care-free for someone his age—shouldn't he have been married already? The same went for Federico—if they came from a rich family, like their clothes suggested, then an arranged marriage should have already taken place. I wonder why I hadn't.

"Look, brother—the doctor." We looked up to where Federico was pointing. I nearly burst up laughing when I saw whom he was pointing at. A man dressed in dark robes with a funny hat perched on his head stood in front of us, but perhaps the funniest thing was the strange, bird-beak mask tied to his face. I wasn't entirely sure what the point of the mask was, but it sure made me smile.

Ezio and Federico didn't seem as amused as I was. They simple walked up to the doctor without even cracking a smile, and the doctor looked up at him. I was surprised when he started shaking his head. "Well, well, well," he started, folding his arms. "The Auditore boys. What have you done now?"

"My brother has gotten himself in some trouble," Federico explained, gesturing to Ezio's face. "You must help him—his handsome face is his only asset!"

Ezio threw his brother a dirty glare. "_Vaffanculo_ (Fuck you)," he muttered.

The doctor moved forward, reaching out to grab Ezio's face, twisting the Auditore's face to the side so that he could look at the gash better. "Hm...it looks rather deep." He let go of Ezio's face, turning back to his cart and rummaging through the bottles there. "It could use some stitching for a week at tops, my boy." Ezio grumbled under his breath, but made no other deterrence for the stitching. The doctor picked out a bottle and took out a rag from the cart, dumping some of the liquid onto the cloth before reaching forward and dabbing Ezio's lip with it. I nearly laughed again when Ezio's face twisted up into disgust and slight pain, his nose wrinkled in revulsion. The doctor then pulled out the needle and thread, making my stomach twist uncomfortably as he inched closer to Ezio. "This may sting a bit, but don't resist—that'll only make it hurt worse."

As Ezio was tortured with the needle going through his half-numbed skin, Federico and I sat down on crates across the street, leaving the doctor to his work without an audience. With the toe of my slipper, I nudged at a small pebble, watching it roll around with a simple touch. Federico was watching what I was doing quietly, almost as if he were lost in thought. Finally, after a few minutes, he looked up at my face. "Narina," he started, "you don't have any place to stay, right?"

I shrugged. "I probably do, I just don't remember. But Ezio said that I'm probably not from Firenze."

"Yeah, I would remember a face like yours. And your clothes are of rich make—if you were from here, our family would know of yours."

I stayed silent, adverting my attention back to the pebble that was now just out of the reach of my foot.

"You can come back to our home," he finally offered, his voice trailing off as if he were reconsidering the offer.

That made me smile, although it didn't exactly feel happy enough to call it a smile. "That's fine. I'll find something—I wouldn't want to intrude on your home."

"It would be no intrusion—my father and mother wouldn't even mind, I'm sure!" He seemed excited now that I had acknowledged the offer.

But I still shook my head no. "It's...very nice of you to offer, Federico, but I think I need to—"

"...try and figure out what you're doing here," he finished for me, looking back across the way to where Ezio was getting his face stitched. I almost felt bad, seeing how sad he looked. I went to say something, but he turned back towards me with a smile. "Well, if you find yourself in any help, you can always count on the Auditore's to help you."

"Thank you." I smiled back, thankful for the offer and glad that I had already found stability in a world I didn't know anymore.

After a few more minutes, the doctor was paid for his service and Ezio walked back over to us, a black thread laced through his lips.

"That's a nice look for you, brother," Federico teased, standing up from the crate. "It's going to turn into one hell of a scar, and imagine the tales you'll be able to spin!"

Ezio rolled his eyes, reaching up to rub at his lip. "This is going to be a pain. I have to come back a week from now to have the doctor remove them!" Federico laughed boisterously as Ezio's pout drew deeper. Then Ezio turned towards me. "Narina, I mentioned to the doctor that you have lost your memory." My eyes widened at the consideration of the seemingly self-centered man. "He claims there is no cure he can give you, but he suggests maybe we try to jog your memory with things you may have seen before."

"How will we know what I've seen before if I cannot remember?" I wondered, raising a brow at him. "We're running in circles here."

"You said you fell through a roof, right?" Federico hummed in consideration. "Perhaps some exploration on the roofs will remind you of why you were on the buildings in the first place."

It seemed like a shot in the dark, but perhaps something would come out of it. "It's a start, I guess," I mused, standing up and brushing my skirt off. "It's getting pretty late, though—there's no sun to go by."

"That's fine." Federico offered me his arm, a charming grin on his lips. "Ezio and I know this city so well, we could run across it blindfolded without a single misstep. And besides, the moon is near full at this time of the month—we should be able to get by."

When I took a hold of his arm, he instead had me climb up onto his back, claiming it would be easier on him that way. Ezio led the way up the side of a short building, Federico showing an extreme act of power by hauling both of us up the side of a building that would be impossible for any normal person. In order for it to even work, though, I had to cling to him with my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, a very strange and slightly awkward position for someone who I had barely even met. Even when we reached the top of the building, Federico refused to let me down, jogging across the rooftops with his arms secured around my knees to make sure I wouldn't fall off backwards.

At the end of the roof, Federico stopped and looked to where Ezio was waiting on the next roof over. He looked back up at me, smile wide on his face. "You ready?"

My body tensed. "You're not actually going to jump, are you?"

"Of course. Just hold on tight."

I trusted Federico. I just didn't trust the gap between the buildings. "If you're sure..."I whispered, making sure my limbs were tight around him. "Have you ever done this with someone on your back before?"

He was quiet. "Uh...no."

I swallowed back the fear, clamping my eyes shut and begging him to get it over with mentally. I felt him take a few steps backwards so that he could probably get a running start. And sure enough, his body was suddenly in motion, and as his muscles rebelled under my hold, I opened my eyes to witness the wide street below us, beckoning us to come and splatter all across it. I shuddered and clamped my eyes shut again. With a bone-rattling thud, a slight stagger from Federico, we were standing on the other roof, completely unharmed.

I was simply amazed. "My God! You're inhuman!" I sputtered, my heart thrumming fast in my chest.

Federico shrugged as if it hadn't been such a big feat. "I do what I can," he mused, the arrogance thick in his voice. Ezio didn't seem all to amazed, either, for he rolled his eyes, turned and continued to lead us across the string of roofs, slight drops and climbs every now and again. I was still so hyped up from the jump that I couldn't quiet concentrate on finding things that would trigger my memory.

We traveled across half of the city before Ezio stopped and waited for us, the last sun rays still peeking up over the mountains. Some stars could be seen in the eastern horizon where the rays couldn't quite touch. Federico finally let me stand upon the roof Ezio had stopped upon. I nearly lost balance, having to cling to Federico's sleeve in order not to tumble down the sharp decline of the slick roof. Federico laughed at me, but Ezio merely sat upon the apex of the roof, staring at the setting sun. As I was guiding to a sitting point next to Ezio, Federico plopped down next to me, sighing out a breath that he had seemed to have been holding for a long while.

"What a day," he mused, letting his legs fall down the slide of the roof.

"Yeah," Ezio agreed, still staring at the sunset.

A silence settled around us all then. I think they both knew that the run across the roofs hadn't helped me at all, but they didn't seem to regret dragging me all the way across the city with them.

Finally, I turned to Ezio. "Why were you in that fight earlier?"

He waved his hand nonchalantly through the air. "Just some _asino_ who has always bad mouthed our family. Him and his little friends tried to beat us up."

"His name is Vieri De Pazzi," Federico went on to explain—probably hoping that the name might sound familiar to me. "His family and my family have some sort of rivalry between them. They are always picking fights, but this one got a little out of hand." I noticed Federico threw Ezio a disapproving look at the words. "One's that may give us issues back at home, dear brother."

"They deserved it," Ezio muttered, rubbing at his lip, making me slap his hand away as I told him to stop touching it.

There wasn't any other words for a long while—enough time for the sun to completely disappear and the stars to litter the sky. A cold breeze was running through the city, and I would have been a problem if I didn't have two large men at either side of me, acting like shields to the cold. Federico ended up pointing out a few patterns he had learned that were in the sky, both Ezio and I intrigued about the other-worldly glowing dots in the sky.

But shortly after a few patterns were pointed out, Federico suddenly stopped.

"Narina, we can't leave you by yourself. You're not able to protect yourself."

Tired of this conversation, I sighed and shrugged. "Look, I'll be fine. You said so yourself that I can just find you guys if I need help."

"Yeah, but it just seems wrong to leave you all by yourself." He looked almost angry. At me, himself—it wasn't clear.

"I'll be fine. I was okay before I met you two."

"We saved you," Ezio mused, his brow furrowing, seeming to take his brother's side.

"The only reason I even stopped running was because you distracted me in the first place." I frowned, not liking how I was trying to pin the blame on them. "Look, just show me where your house is, and after I look around a little bit, if I don't find anything, I go there."

Federico studied me for a moment as if to judge my reasoning. "Fine. But if I don't hear back from you by tomorrow, I'm coming to look for you."

"Fine."

Federico stood up. "Let's go show you where our house is now, then."

Ezio stood up as well, but took a step back. "You go on ahead—I'm going to head over to Cristina's."

My brow furrowed. _Cristina?_ I guess it was a little unrealistic to assume that just because Ezio wasn't married that he didn't have a lover.

"Be careful then. You tread into dangerous lands, my brother." Federico smiled, and I suddenly realized with a wee bit of exasperation that Federico was probably the one to teach Ezio how to be a lady killer. "And hopefully she doesn't mind the twine infused with your face now. Might make the sex less enjoyable than it already is!"

"Fuck off," Ezio snapped, flipping his brother off. "I'll see you later." Without more of a goodbye, Ezio turned and slid down the roof, jumping down onto a lower one, and running off into the shadows of the night. I watched him until he disappeared behind a roof, and then Federico was helping me stand up. I was once again perched upon his back, and we descended back to the ground, where Federico let me down and led me through the lit streets. It took no more than five minutes until we approached a giant house with a front gate and courtyard. They _were_ rich.

I stared up at the front gate, trying to get out of my awe-stricken state.

"So this is the place?" I squeaked.

"This is the place," he confirmed, smile in his voice. "You're welcome here whenever you want, understand."

I simply nodded.

"Well then good. Be careful. Are you sure you don't want me to walk around with you?"

Finally I smiled and shook my head. "I'll be fine. Promise. I'll see you later."

"Alright." He stood there for a long moment. "Goodnight."

"Night."

I walked away from him then, not bothering to memorize the streets and houses. I knew that I needed to get out of Florence and figure out what the hell was going on, and tying myself down to the Auditore's was probably going to halt that. A thought made me pause, however, and I stood still in the street for a moment, thinking about how _right_ it had felt to sit between those two, how safe it had made me feel. Maybe I wasn't supposed to get out of this town. But I still felt bad for imposing on them and their family. And maybe I really would find something to connect my past together.

But somehow I knew that the further I walked away from that house—that big, big house—the further away I was from finding the truth.

I walked only a few streets more, twisting and turning, until I found a small crevice in between two houses, dark shadows and a perfect place to keep hidden. Crouching down into the small space, I leaned against the building and folded my legs up under my skirt, leaning back against the stone building. The cold wind was now riddling me with shivers and goose-bumps along my arms. Hunching down further, closer to the ground, I tried to find some warmth within the small corner, though there was virtually none.

It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do until I figured out what I was going to do. I closed my eyes.

I didn't even get to fall close enough to sleep before a figure was standing over me. At first, I thought it was one of my pursuers, so I jerked up into a sitting position, preparing to run. But then the figure crouched down and took a hold of my upper arms, and the warmth automatically soothed me. And made me feel like an idiot.

"Hi, Federico," I whispered, my voice taking a very odd tone to it.

"Narina," he greeted back. "This is where you are finding all of your answers, hm? In some rat-infested street corner?"

I avoided the question. "Did you follow me?"

"I was worried," he explained, his hold on my arms easing so it was just like a soft caress. "Is that really such an awful thing?"

"I feel bad," I whispered. "I can't impose on your family."

"We can figure something out later," he mused. "Until then, you have to sleep in a place where you won't get sick or get killed. One night won't kill you."

A long moment passes where we stared at each other, my eyes adjusted enough so that I could barely make out the warm color of his eyes. Then I sighed. "Fine. But only one night."

"Deal. Now let's go." He helped me up, leading me by the elbow as if I were some child who was afraid of being lost in the big, bad world. For some strange reason, I guess I didn't mind it, and allowed him to lead me.

Even if I didn't want to impose, I was happy that I would be sleeping in an actual bed instead of in a rat-infested street corner.

* * *

**So yes! A lot of changes for this chapter. First of all, I wanted Narina's independence to start branching out of her need to try and appease to this unsettling feeling she has about trusting people. Of course, it'll alter as the story goes on, but we'll just have to wait and see about that!**

**The time span for these first few chapters are going to be a little bit more different than what I first had them. When I look back on my story, I find it strange that Narina was so attached to the Auditore's after only like three days—I know they are the only people she knows but...c'mon, let's get some variety or some shit!**

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**

**(Sorry if the next update takes a long time. XI)**


	3. That Little Glitch

**-Classes suck soooo bad! But the good thing is that I get to go home on the 20th, which is pretty exciting! I'm so homesick that it makes me cry! (I miss my dog the most—is that rude to my family?)**

**Thanks for reviewing, Dahlings! :D  
****sofarsogood99901  
****CelestialStorm  
****shippolove844  
****Xia 19222  
****Dimples1476  
****Katalystic13  
****miruka67**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**That Little Glitch**

* * *

The city had died down by the time Federico got me back to the giant villa. As we approached the door, I was once again amazed by how big the house was. Riches interested me, and I loved to see how things were crafted to become beautiful decoration. He led me through the giant gates and into the front door, a swirl of warm smells embracing us as if in welcome as we walked through. It was everything that I expected to be in a rich family's home—all of the walls were tall and painted a magnificent crimson, wooden panels on the lower half of the walls etched with amazing designs and polished to a shine. Curtains hung from the high ceilings, stitched with a pattern that I figured to be the family symbol. The furniture in the room was made with the finest wood, padded with velvet cushions and tassels to hang down. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, dozens of candles perched in the holders to light up the entire room. Before us was a grand staircase that led up to the higher floors, a magnificent rug melded against the steps. It was all so amazing, and we were still only in the front room.

In an awe, I simply stood there and stared, wondering how it was that a family could have such wealth. "What does your family do?" I wondered. I had phrased the question in such a silly way, but Federico must have understood what I really wanted to know.

"My father is a banker," he explained, walking past me and into the front room. "It's...a wealthy profession." He seemed to have something else on his mind as he explained, and something told me it wasn't just the banking job that got them their money. That got me thinking; were they a family of robbers? Thieves? They were quite good at running and climbing buildings—it would makes sense. Although they seemed like legitimate guesses, I didn't think any of those fit how Federico and Ezio acted. But even if they were cutthroats and robbers, I still felt safe with them, and that was what really counted, I think.

"So, I'll introduce you to my mother and sister—my father is out of town for business right now. We'll talk to my mother about what we should do."

"Okay." I felt awkward almost as I took a step into the front room, feeling slightly inadequate for some reason, which should have made me laugh, I realized, but I didn't know why.

We walked up the giant stairs and took a left, walking down a gloriously decorated hallway. Paintings of men were up on the walls, and I wondered idly if it were relatives of the Auditore's, their family tree pasted out on a wall. We didn't even reach the end of the hall before Federico made a right, turning down a small hall that had a door on the right side. He opened it up enough to stick his head through, inspecting the room. "Mother? Claudia?" He called out.

"Federico," a voice came from inside, a young, cheerful voice. "There you are! You and Ezio have been out all day!"

"We've been keeping busy," Federico mused, keeping the details a secret, and he turned to look back at me. "_Madre, Sorella_, I'd like to introduce you to someone. Ezio and I made a friend today."

Although that was my cue to walk forward, I felt strangely shy again and hesitated to make that step. But when I did, Federico was right there to help me the rest of the way, to remind me that I wasn't alone. I stepped into the room—which was small and less decorated than the hallways; it must have been a gathering room—and looked at the two women sitting on the couch next to the bookshelves. They looked extremely similar, a mother and her daughter. The daughter looked to be around fifteen years old, her hair pulled back and held by an expensive looking headdress. She was very pretty, much like her mother was. I could see that the Auditore good-looks were probably hereditary. I bowed. "Hello."

"Why, hello my dear!" The mother stood up in a lithe movement, her red summer dress swaying with her movements. "It's always so nice when Federico brings a woman home."

I blushed, knowing exactly what she was implying. "It's not like that."

When the mother looked at me in disbelief, Federico stepped in. "Ezio and I found this girl being chased today by men who were very intent on hurting her. She claims that she must have fell through a roof while running from them and hit her head. She can't remember anything."

"Like, she can't even remember who she is?" The young girl tilted her head at me, studying me as if that fact made me some creature with six heads.

"I may have forgotten my name," I mused, "but I know those men are trying to...I'm not sure, but harm me in some way. I'm lucky that your sons were there to help me."

"We call her Narina," Federico put in. "She has blue eyes."

"Like that sea nymph in that book we used to read as a child!" Claudia exclaimed, obviously remembering the context from which Federico knew of it also.

The mother curtsied to me before she studied my quietly, looking over the way I was dressed, probably trying to remember if I could be the daughter of another family she had met. When she "hmph"ed under her breath, I knew she hadn't come up with any matches. "My name is Maria Auditore," she greeted, then gestured to the girl on the couch. "This is my daughter Claudia."

"A pleasure." Both Claudia and I bowed our heads at each other.

After the introduction, Federico began to discuss what the plan was with my staying there and what they could do to help. His mother, however, brushed off the conversation before it could truly get started. "This is something for your father to decide. Until he gets home, she is welcome to stay in our guest room in the west part of the house."

Federico grinned at me, and I smiled back, dipping into a deep bow. "Thank you so much. I promise, I can repay you somehow for your generosity."

"It is fine, my dear," Maria claimed with a soft smile. "We are happy to help in any way we can."

"First things first, though, we should try to figure out if you _do_ have family here in Florence. It would be a shame if we were to be blamed for kidnapping you," Federico pointed out. "But we can do that tomorrow. I'll ask around and give out a description."

"You have to be careful of those men, mind you," I muttered. "I would hate that you gave out information and they came here to find me."

"Perhaps it would be better—and safer—to wait to do that when your father gets home, hm?" Maria suggested, throwing her son a strange look that I did not understand. Federico nodded in acknowledgment, some unspoken secret being shared between the two. Then the mother looked behind us, towards the door. "I take it your _più giovane fratello _didn't come home with you?"

"No. He's spreading his seeds."

Both Claudia and I gasped in an offensive manner—such a blunt way to explain!

"Cristina's, then? Hm." Maria reached for her cup of tea on the side table as she sat back down. The mother didn't seem very surprised to hear of her son's activity, his choice of fertile grounds for his seed. After she sipped off of her tea, she looked up at Federico and I. "Well, it's getting late, my children. I think you best be off to bed."

Claudia didn't seem happy to be sent to bed like a child, but she kissed her mother's cheek and walked out of the room, saying her soft goodnights.

"Federico, would you mind showing Narina to her room?"

"_Certo_."

Before I followed Federico out of the room, I remembered my manners, and turned back to Maria, bowing once again. "Thank you for the hospitality, Maria."

She was smiling at me when I stood up straight again, and she nodded. "Goodnight, Narina."

I couldn't help but smile back. If I couldn't remember my own mother and my own life, I would keep Maria as a mother figure. She was very kind and respected, but strict like a mother should be, in loving manner that made you know that she cared. We continued walking down the first hall we went down. "Your mother is a very kind woman," I mused, looking up at Federico.

He smiled softly. "She has to take care of a handful, that's for sure."

We reached a door and Federico opened up the door for me, gesturing for me to walk inside. The room was dark, but from the light of the hall I could see that it was a very nice room, small but very cozy. There was a small bed in the corner of the room and adjacent to that was a small couch with a bookshelf next to it. "It's not anything extravagant," Federico admitted, "but it should do just fine, right?"

"No, this is perfect," I mused, walking further into the room and sitting down on the bed, feeling the bedspread.

"I'll be back with a candle for you," he offered, and then left the room.

As I sat by myself, I looked around the room and huffed out a breath. Despite how much I believed that I should have felt bad for taking advantage of someone I had just met, I was glad that he had brought me back to the villa. The blanket was soft under my touch, comforting me in a way that I finally felt myself smile in contentedness. I was safe here.

Federico came back into the room with a candle and placed it on the side table, smiling down at me. His brown eyes looked golden like his brother's in the candle light, the light enunciating his strong face.

"When will your father be home, you think?" I asked as he sat down next to me.

He shrugged. "Sometime tomorrow evening or the next day, I'm guessing. He tries to get home as soon as he is able."

"His bank job sends him out of the city?" It seemed a little strange.

Federico smiled, but looked down at his hands folded between his knees. "His job demands some pretty drastic things, I'll admit," he whispered, and I once again got the impression that his father wasn't just a banker.

"Is he never home?"

"Oh, he is always home. He just has to leave for a few days sometimes." Federico smiled up at me. "Don't worry about it."

I took that as a hint that I needed to stop questioning it. So I feigned a yawn and brushed the hair out of my eyes. "I think I need to go to sleep."

"Alright." He stood up from the bed. "The restroom is down on the first floor, down the second hall on the right—."

"I'll just wake you up if I have to pee that bad," I interrupted, smiling at him. "Goodnight."

He smiled back. "Night."

"Um," I started before he could close the door behind him. When he turned to look at me, I nodded, bowing my head down. "Thanks for bringing me here."

"You're welcome." I didn't see it, but I could hear the smile in his voice. "Goodnight, Narina."

The door latched with a click, and I sat still for long moment, listening to his footsteps echo down the hall. Then I licked my forefinger and thumb, pinching out the candle as I flopped back onto the bed, sighing out loudly before I kicked off my shoes and turned to face the window, staring up at the sky. I even tried to find a few of the patterns that Federico had pointed out earlier, but it was of no use—I had forgotten them. I'm not sure when, but I fell asleep while I was staring up at the sky.

* * *

I woke up in a start, sitting straight up in the bed. My heart was beating so fast that I could only here its pounding in my ears. What a strange dream...although I could no longer remember the details that had had me so mesmerized. Finally, I looked around the room, remembering of the Auditore's and how I was sleeping in their home. How they had saved me.

Flinging my legs off of the bed, I lifted up the front of my bodice and smelled at it, wondering if they had any extra clothes that I could wear. As I put my feet back into my slipper-like shoes, I stood and walked over to the window, gazing out of the glass and down onto the streets. It couldn't have been too early in the morning—the sun was just above the horizon, and there were many people out on the streets. Deciding that I wanted some fresh air, I opened the window, swinging the shutters out. A cold breeze swept into the room, making me shiver but also waking me up a little bit more. I leaned out against the sill, brushing away hair that was hanging in my eyes.

Florence was beautiful. Everything was a warm, welcoming color, inviting and true. The smell was a little bad—well, not so much in the richer districts, but the cold breeze seemed to chase away any impurities. It was such an amazing town, the architecture brilliant and well thought out. In the far distance, I could make out a clock tower that reached up higher than any of the other buildings. It was a shame to think that somewhere out in that sea of beauty, there was a group of men who were trying to kill me.

Put off by the though, I leaned back into the building and shut the window. I made my way over to the door, but stopped when my eyes landed on some figure standing in my room, my body freezing. A second later, I relaxed, realizing that I was staring into a reflection in a mirror. _My_ reflection. I took a step forward to take a closer look.

I looked like a little teenager like Claudia—I couldn't have been older than seventeen. My face was still as round as a child's, and my hair was just as messy as well; wavy, dark brown hair fell down my back and over my shoulders, curling around my round cheeks. My eyes were big and blue, just as Federico and Ezio had said, and my nose was very pixie like. I noted that under my right eye, I had a small, freckle-like mole, tiny and dark, resting along my cheekbone near my temple. As I reached up to touch it, I noticed that I was frowning in the reflection before I physically realized. I seemed to be bothered. Or lost. Yes, definitely lost and confused.

Then I realized that my dress was extremely dirty, and I was nearly disgusted by how it was stained down at the bottom rim and covered in dust and dirt. All I could do was wipe at the imperfections, however, and I contemplated on how hard it would be to find some cleaner clothes in this huge house.

As I was smoothing a wrinkle on the dress, the door creaked open slowly as if someone were peeking in, then it opened wide, Federico standing in the doorway. He looked over at me standing in front of the mirror and smiled.

"She's quite a beauty, isn't she?"

I lowered my eyes from his. "She looks like a kid."

"Nonsense." He walked up behind me, smiling at me through the reflection. "You're beautiful," he murmured, making me feel something akin to discomfort form in my stomach. I moved away from the mirror, sidestepping around Federico.

"When's breakfast?" I wondered, changing the subject. I didn't want to become the next conquest in the long list of girls that Federico probably had.

"Not for a while," he mused, turning with me as I walked to the door. "I was coming to see if you were awake and wanted to go out for a little bit."

"I could use a walk," I admitted, liking the idea of walking around in the cool morning air. And I wasn't worried about the men when I was with Federico. I stopped at the doorway, looking down at myself again. "Well, I actually wouldn't mind finding a change of clothes, first."

Federico studied me for a long moment, judging my body type I could see. "I think you might be able to fit into Claudia's dresses if you want to go ask her."

A pout twisted my lips tight together. I didn't want to have to go ask some girl I hardly knew for her clothes. "I'm fine with wearing whatever you have laying around."

Federico laughed a short snort, as if finding the image that formed in his head greatly amusing. "You? Fit into _my_ clothes? Absurd. You're so short."

"Shut up," I snapped, but smiled at his tease. "What about Ezio's, then? He's shorter than you, and he seems to wear tight vests as it is anyway."

Federico shrugged. "I suppose we could try looking around his room—he hasn't come back from Cristina's yet."

With that, I followed Federico out of the room and down the hallway, back towards the staircase. I made him take me to the bathroom before we went any further, and from there, we climbed back up the stairs and down another hallway. The upper story must have been simply bedrooms and smaller living spaces, for I realized that there weren't' that many doors. Federico opened up one and looked around inside first as if expecting Ezio to actually be sleeping in his bed. After a moment, he waved me in and I stepped into the room.

It was a mess compared to the other rooms I had seen—clothes were clumped in the corners and papers were spread out all along the wooden desk sitting in front of the window. The bed was unmade and the curtains were drawn closed, only a line of sunlight streaming in. Federico took the opportunity to open the curtains as I wandered over to the chest at the end of the giant bed, much more fancy than what I had just slept in.

As I started to scrambled through the trunk, finding it to actually be where Ezio stuffed most of his clothes, Federico came up beside me and started to help me, the light streaming in through the window a great help. "I know he has summer clothing that would fit you from when he was younger," he mused. "They'd probably be at the bottom though."

I would have felt bad, but Federico didn't seem to mind that he was throwing Ezio's clothes all over the floor, so I followed in suite. How did the saying go? When in Rome, do what the Romans do! Federico was right—at the bottom of the trunk was smaller clothes that Ezio had obviously thrown aside. It was sad to say, but they were even a little too big for me then.

"You don't mind basics, do you?" Federico asked as he handed me a pair of slacks and a shirt. "You don't need to dress up the outfit, right?"

I laughed. "Right. I'm grateful for what I've got, so thank you."

Before we could say anything else, there was a footstep at the door, and Federico and I turned to see who it was. Ezio stood in the doorway, moving his eyes from between Federico and I, then landing on the bundle of clothes in my arms. "What are you two doing in my room?" He asked hesitantly.

I'm not exactly sure what it was, but when I glanced over at Federico, some childish spark ignited within me, and he gave me a lopsided grin in response, feeling the same. "Run for it!" I cried out, bolting out of the room, ducking around Ezio and taking off down the hall. In a strange sense, I felt the dread that had been plaguing me the day before wash away in giggles as I continued to bolt through the giant house. When I reached the end of the hall, I turned to run down another long stretch, but as I zipped around the corner, I collided with a hard object, smacking right into Ezio who had obviously known what my path was, and figured out a way to intervene. We both fell to the floor after the bone-rattling hit, sprawling out on the ground. The clothes had flown out of my hands and landing in a heap next to me. After a moment of staring up at the ceiling, stars floating in my sight, Federico leaned over me, grin wide, and an eyebrow raised.

"Very graceful," he mused with a bright smile.

"Ugh," I groaned out loudly, rubbing my head. "That could have gone better."

Ezio suddenly busted up laughing, and, as if it was infectious, both Federico and I followed in suite. Although I wasn't entirely sure what was so funny about the situation, I couldn't stop myself from feeling happy. It was right for me to be with these two, I was sure of it. They would be able to help me, even more so than they already had.

Federico helped me stand up and placed the clothes back in my arms. Ezio was smiling up at us as he sat up on the floor, he legs spread out like he was a small child. "Why are you stealing my clothes?" he wondered as I pulled the cloth to my chest.

"It's not like you wear them anyway," I mused. "They're too small for you."

He shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I was just wondering." With one push, he stood up and fixed his clothes that were all mussed up.

"How was Cristina's last night?" Federico wondered, grinning widely.

"Better than anything you'll ever get," Ezio mused with a competitive tone to his voice. They battled through their stares for a moment before Ezio snickered, and straightened his jacket. "Is breakfast done?"

"It's probably finished by now. Here, let's go—Narina, we'll change later. Did you just get home Ezio?" We all turned and walked down the hall, heading towards the stairs.

"Yeah—I had to get out of Cristina's because her dad found us."

Federico laughed. "I'm sure that will come back around to bite you. The guards got involved, right?"

"_Si_. Father won't be pleased."

"Oh well." Federico sighed, reaching up and rubbing his head. "It seems to be just one thing after another."

Neither of them said anything more, so I simply stayed close to Federico's side, wondering just what kind of things that they had to deal with. It always seemed that rich families had some sort of drama going on, and the Auditore's weren't an exception.

The dining room was down by the front hall, on the right side of the entrance. Inside was a extravagantly decorated room where a table was made, filled with food of fruits and bread, meats and colorful meals that made my mouth water just looking at it. Maria was sitting at the head of the table, talking to a maid next to her in a whisper. Next to her was Claudia, and next to Claudia sat a small boy with dark hair.

Federico moved over to where the boy was sitting, putting his hand on the tiny shoulder. When the boy looked up, Federico gestured towards me with his chin. "Petruccio, this is Narina. She's a friend of mine and Ezio's." The boy looked up at me, his eyes wide and dark, a similar color to Federico's. "Narina," Federico continued, "this is my youngest brother, Petruccio."

I smiled at the boy and bowed. "It's a pleasure, Petruccio."

"Nice to meet you, Narina," he greeted happily, his round face widened into a smile when I looked back up at him. He was charming for a young child, just like his brothers. It must have been a trait that ran in the family. I followed the boys to the other side of the table, and Federico pulled out a chair for me to sit in. Thanking him, I sat down and he took a seat next to me, Ezio sitting between his brother and mother.

"Good morning," Maria greeted to all of us, smiling softly as we all replied with our own good mornings. "You are finally home, my son?" The question was directed at Ezio.

He grinned in response, but didn't say anything. With all of the family present, they started reached forward and grabbing their food, loading their plates. I waited patiently, not wanting to be rude. Federico, however, saw I wasn't grabbing for any food and kept offering me food, plopping things down onto my plate. "Eat up! Maybe if you eat enough, you'll start to grow taller."

"Hush up," I told him through a smile, elbowing him in the side.

"How old are you?" Petruccio asked from across the table, his dark eyes filled with fascination.

"Um..." I tried to reach far into the darkness to pull out the simple answer. "I think...I'm sixteen." The answer seemed definite as I spoke them, and I knew it to be true. "Yes, sixteen."

"You're my age!" Claudia spoke up, as if excited to find a girl who was as old as her. "When were you born? Do you remember?"

I wracked my brain harder, prying into the shadows, pressing so hard. "Sometime...in the spring, maybe? No...it's colder. In the winter?" I hummed as I picked at some of the food on my plate. "I don't know. Somehow, I think I never really kept track."

"Really? How can you not keep track of your own birthday?" Claudia seemed confused, and I did realize that it must have been different to what she was used to. With her family, she probably grew up with her birthday celebrated extravagantly every year, never once forgotten or lost in the folds of time. Deep inside, I felt a little envious to know that such a love could exist, and I ignored her question, stuffing some food in my mouth to give me an excuse not to talk. The rest of the family filled in my talking space anyway, all of them boisterously conversing with one another. I quietly ate, although extremely fascinated with the way all of them seemed to be so in synch with one another; they all seemed so think the same things, finish each others sentences and build on the same stories. They were a family that was so close that they had probably never been apart from each other. They were a rare, beautiful family.

* * *

Breakfast came to a close, and Federico directed me towards the bathroom again so that I could change. "If you want, we can have the maids clean your dress, too."

"That'd be nice, thank you." I took the clothes that he had held out for me and walked into the bathroom. I stripped down to nothing, standing in front of the door since I was paranoid that someone might try to come in. As I folded the dress and placed it on the counter next to the newer pile of clothes, I looked up and caught sight of myself in the mirror above the wash bin. I immediately recalled Federico calling me pretty earlier in the morning, but as I looked over my full body, I found myself a little skeptical. My torso was so short that it gave my posture an awkward look, and my hips were wider than other girls my age, wider than Claudia's. I guess I could be considered pretty, but I wasn't even grown up yet. Done with the inspection, I threw on the clothes, finding out that the slacks were a little too long and pooled around my feet. The shirt fit nicely, however, even if the sleeves were a little too long. I rolled up the slacks so they were bunched at my knees, and then rolled up the sleeves to my elbows. When I looked in the mirror again, I smiled at the thought of how Federico could think I was pretty now—I looked pretty bad, my figure turning into a sloppy, baggy mess, and I resembled a boy more than anything.

Grabbing the clothes and leaving the room, I smiled up at Federico who had been waiting for me.

Just as I thought, he looked at my attire and smiled like he had a joke. "Looking good," he snickered.

I quirked a brow at him. "Thanks." I held out the dress. "What do we do with this?"

"Follow me."

We walked back towards the dining room, where a few servants were picking up after breakfast. A woman there looked up at Federico's entrance, and he asked her to clean the dress and put it in my room when she was finished. After the woman walked away, he turned to face me again with a smile. "We need to find you a belt—that shirt looks ridiculous all loose and what not."

"Where can we find a belt that actually fits me?" I challenged, folding my arms.

"Ezio has some belts that you just wrap around your waist—those could work."

"Back to his room, then?"

He considered the offer for a moment, but shook his head."We could just go buy you some clothes. I don't think we need to steal anymore of Ezio's clothes today."

I was shaking my head. "I don't have any money to spend on clothes."

"Then let it be a gift, from me to you."

"You don't have to," I argued, but seeing how the Auditore's were, I knew his mind was already set.

Ignoring my last comment, Federico told me to wait for a moment in the front hall while he ran upstairs and disappeared for about two minutes. He finally came back down with a pouch of money jingling in his hold.

"We'll get you a few things and head back so Ezio can have his clothes back," he mused, walking past me and pressing open the front doors. I followed after him closely, worried that if I were to take a step out of the safe house, all hell would break loose. Yet for some reason, I was still surprised when it didn't. Why was I always expecting the worse?

We spent a good hour walking through the Florence markets, Federico pointing out certain landmarks that were apparently extremely famous, but I still had no idea what they were. At the tailors shop, I decided to buy my own pairs of slacks and shirt, liking how it felt in contrast to a dress. With it we bought a wrap belt and a pair of shoes that I could wear. While I was content with the one outfit, Federico insisted on buying me another dress; a dark red dress that had golden embroidery and embellishments on the bodice. It was pretty, but too much for me. I was learning more and more about myself, and one of the things I realized was that I wasn't much for girly things. Still, I appreciated the gift, and took it without complaining.

* * *

As we entered the Villa again, I noticed that there was a slight air of difference, and Federico noticed it as well. We paused at the door, looking around as if to expect to see a physical change somewhere in the room. Finally, a servant approached us, bowing. "_Ser_ Federico, your father has returned home."

"Already?" He was excited, grinning widely. "Where is he?"

"I believe he is in the library with your family."

"Thank you, Annetta." I nodded to the women, and followed Federico down a hallway next to the stairway. He was walking so fast that I struggled to keep up with him. He burst into a room, flinging the doors open into a large room with many bookshelves. Inside, his mother was sitting by the window, sewing a shirt. She looked up and smiled at us. "Federico. Welcome home. Your father is back."

"Yes," Federico said in excitement. "Where is he?"

"I believe he went to his study for a moment. Go speak with him; he missed you." She looked at me. "I'm sure he would like to meet Narina as well."

"Right. _Grazie_." Federico turned and took a hold of my elbow, towing me away.

"Is it always this exciting when your father comes home?" I asked, smirking.

Federico laughed. "My father loves his family very much—he's kind and is true. He know how to keep a balance, and we all adore him very much. He is well loved in the city as well."

"It's not surprising that he's a good man," I mused. "He raised his sons well...aside from the fact that they're skirt-chasers."

Federico threw me an innocent stare at that, but I knew the truth. When he knew there was no getting around it, he shrugged nonchalantly. "If you must know, all men are. Some are just more subtle about it."

"Of course." I laughed out loud. "You're just lucky that you have a very handsome family."

"Why, thank you," he mused in a pleased tone, his grin growing crooked as he seemed well complimented by my observation.

We walked back through the front room, walking across the front room and approaching a large door. I assumed it was Federico's father's study. Federico knocked quietly before inviting himself in.

"Father!" The word rang out brightly, and Federico was gone and across the room, hugging an older version of himself.

"Federico, my son," the man replied, patting his son's back. "How have you been?"

"I have been well, father." Federico let go of his father and turned to look at me. "I have a friend I would like you to meet," he mused, waving me into the room. I felt inadequate again, realizing that I wasn't exactly fashionable with my boyish clothes and messy hair. But I stepped forward anyway, smiling brightly at the man, who had stepped forward and greeted me warmly with a big smile.

"A beautiful young woman, is it?"

"Er, yes," I replied, bowing deeply. "My name is...well, your sons call me Narina."

Federico took that time to explain the situation at hand, how I had forgotten everything prior to when I had crashed through a roof.

Giovanni seemed troubled, yet intrigued, with my story. "You were running away from armed men, then?" He paused, his gaze locking onto the far wall as he thought. "And you do not live in the city, yes? Hm. Very interesting." He suddenly smiled, letting go of the thought. "It is a pleasure, then, Narina. My name is Giovanni Auditore."

Out of all the names I had been told the past day, Giovanni's caused me to catch myself, to look up in wonder as some glitch in my brain flickered. "Giovanni Auditore..." The name slipped so easily off of my tongue, and as it passed my lips, it was like a light turned on in my head, and I stared up at him with wide eyes as I gasped in realization. "You're an assassin," I whispered, the words just materializing from my mouth, like I hadn't even contemplated them.

In a split second, the study door was slammed shut, the shutters closed, and Giovanni and Federico were both standing across from me in front of the giant desk, their eyes guarded and slightly surprised. Although the acknowledgment that they were assassins came to my mind, I wasn't scared of them at all. If anything, I felt more safe with the knowledge.

At first Giovanni turned a sharp glare to his son. "Who told her?" he asked lowly.

Federico held his hands up in defense, taking a step away from his father. "I didn't even breathe a word! Promise!"

"It's not his fault, Giovanni," I answered. I pointed up to my head. "Something in my brain just clicked and it told me that you are an assassin." It started to make sense—all of Federico's shady answers and quick glances between his mother...it was all hiding the secret that his father, and possibly himself, were assassins.

"Describe these men who were chasing you," the man demanded, not swayed by my explanation.

"Uh." I thought back on it, trying to picture the men. "They...one of them was wearing this head-dress thing...They all had extremely dark hair and dark eyes—pretty dark complexions, as well. They definitely weren't Italian."

"And neither are you," Giovanni mused, looking me in the eye, surprising me that he could recognize that so easily. "But that is beside the point. The way you describe these men make them sound like they're from..." He started to pace. "They sound as though they are from the Jerusalem area."

"Jerusalem?" Federico seemed confused. "All the way from there?"

Giovanni was looking over his desk at all the papers that were there. "I recall seeing something in Altair's memos...Ah! But I sent those to your uncle months ago!" Giovanni glanced up at me when I had taken a sharp intake of air at the name "Altair", something glitching in my brain, but otherwise giving me no more information. He glanced back down after a moment, staring at the papers on the desk. "All of this memory loss seems rather convenient," he mused after a moment of silence. "If I find that you are in fact a spy, I will not hesitate to kill you."

"A spy?" I felt suddenly lost at the thought that I could be kicked out by this family that I so trusted. "I don't understand? Are those men chasing me enemies of yours?"

"Not our enemies here, but perhaps from some other place." He looked up at me, giving me a dark look. "Perhaps you lead them to us and you now put up a mask to hide your true intentions."

Something inside of me tensed at the accusation, and I shook my head quickly. "No, never!" I wanted to show them that I couldn't remember a damn thing, some proof that I wasn't conspiring against them.

"I guess we'll have to judge that with time," he muttered, sitting at the desk. His dark gaze was still pinned on me. "In the meantime, you breathe no word of my being an assassin."

"Of course," I mused, nodding obediently. It must have been hard to keep such a secret from a family he loved so much. I glanced over at Federico, wondering why I didn't get the Assassin vibe from him. Perhaps he hadn't actually became one just yet. Giovanni had probably started training him in the assassinating arts not too long ago while Federico subtly taught Ezio. Or did Ezio know as well?

"Federico, I have many things to do. Your mother told me you wanted to discuss our guest, but we'll talk about it later. I'll make a few arrangements and get her a place to stay—someplace nearby, of course." His eyes narrowed. "We have to keep an eye on her."

"Of course, father." Federico bowed, and I followed in suite, turning and walking out with the elder son and leaving Giovanni at the desk.

As we walked away from the door, Federico stopped a few feet down the hall, his back to mine. I steeled myself for the questions.

"How do you know?" He asked in a whisper, keeping his face turned from me.

I shook my head. "I don't know. If I had a guess, I probably ran into assassins in my past."

"But you knew my father's name."

"Maybe those assassins knew of Giovanni," I mused, trying to reason and convince him.

He was shaking his head as if to batter away my words, although he still refused to look at me. "Narina, I'm not going to allow you to hurt my family."

That hurt a lot to hear him say that. So much that it brought tears to my eyes. He didn't trust me, and another punch to the gut, he thought I was here to hurt him and his family. Shaking my head, I blinked back the tears, and stepped around so I was standing in front of him, looking up into his face. His eyes were placid, guarded, his mouth drawn tight. "I may not remember anything," I whispered to him, "but I promise you that I have no intentions to harm your family."

We stared into each others eyes for a long time, his judgment going bone deep as he searched for the truth within. Finally, he moved back, a sigh heaving from his body. "I hope you're right," he mused, giving me a sad look.

I smiled in reassurance. "I know I am. I feel safe here with you and your family. I would never betray you."

"Then you'll have to prove it," he said back sternly, letting me know that I wasn't off the hook so easily. But he smiled softly afterward as if to show me that he trusted me, even if it was a little bit.

That was enough. I wouldn't ask for more.

"What should we do now?" He asked. I wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that. What should we do about what? About me knowing about the assassin's order? About gaining my trust? Or about how to spend the rest of our day? It seemed like a trick question.

With a wave of my hand, I said "Whatever you decide, I'll follow."

He grinned boyishly, his straight teeth flashing in the light streaming through the window. "Then let's go for a walk."

A walk? That couldn't have been as innocent as it had sounded.

But, true to my word, I followed him.

* * *

**As I was discussing with Xia 19222, I'm going to focus a lot more on Federico X Narina this time through. I want to build their relationship up to an actual, legitimate romance. Is that considered a spoiler? Sorry. :S There'll be more Giovanni and Narina conversation later on down the road, promise!**

**Yeah, I lied. This came out in the middle of the week. Waddya gonna do about it?**

**Just so you all know, I'm in love with a UK man whose name is Lee Baker. He goes by psychadelicsnake on youtube, and yeah. He is super hilarious.**

**Oh, by the way, if you haven't already checked it out, someone is writing a continuation of JBMRMA, and it's called "The View from Up Here." You should check it out.**

**Thanks for reading, and please review! :D Reviews make me happy (and motivated).**


	4. Under His Watch

**-I found it really strange that despite the lack of overwhelming reviews, I still want to work on this story. I think that means that I'm doing this more for myself than anything, which is good. As I was telling Angie last night, it's been really fun kinda getting back into the rush of the AC thing, and although I'm still slightly pissed off about AC3 (for reasons—don't ask), I'm still in love with Ezio and his story. So, yay for me! :)**

**-I really need to stop writing these chapters in class. I'm going to fall so far behind. T.T**

**Thanks for reviewing!:  
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* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Under His Watch**

* * *

Giovanni had made some arrangements with another noble family in the city, some family friends, if you will, and I was to stay with them. In private, Giovanni told me he couldn't risk me being near his family when I could be a threat. I understood, but it still hurt in some small way. Federico didn't seem very happy to watch me gather what little things I had and walk out of their house. My new home was really only a few streets away, but it was far enough to make me feel like I was going away forever.

The family that Giovanni had talked to didn't have any children—I guess they had tried once, but it never could happen. I thought that was sad. Perhaps Giovanni sent me to them in order to give both of us a family. Even though the couple were elderly, I could probably learn to think of them as family. Their names were Manfreo and Lucia Mancini. They welcomed me with warm arms and gave me a nice bed. They had automatically began to treat me as their own. They were kind to me as well; if I wanted to explore the city or go visit the Auditore's, they would allow me to leave. I'm not entirely sure why, but I thought that it would be a prison somehow. But it was quite the opposite.

A week had passed by since I had began staying at the Mancini's. My unknown past had stopped bothering me so much, and I began to live a normal life. Anything that I could have ever wanted, I had it already. I saw Federico frequently. He visited me usually everyday, and if he didn't, I would meander over to his home and find him there. In this big scary world, he was the only one that really made me feel like I belonged, so I sought his company often.

I walked through the front gates to the Auditore villa, brushing past a leaving Ezio. "Oh," I mused, turning around to face him as he did the same. "Good afternoon, Ezio."

"_Salute_, Narina," he greeted smiling. "Federico is inside."

"Thanks." I watched as he turned and walked down the street, his hands in his pockets. He had gotten the stitches taken out of his lip the day before, so the welt in his lip was still pretty fresh and pink. It was going to turn into some gnarly scar.

The Auditores had made it very clear that I was welcome in their house—even Giovanni seemed to warm up to me more as the week passed. So instead of knocking on the door to wait for a servant to answer, I simply walked right in, no longer feeling like I was being rude. There were only a few options of where Federico would be if he were inside the villa: one, his room; two, the library; or three, the kitchen. In all honesty, the kitchen was my best bet, and I made my way through the dining room and into the small room. Federico was in shape and a healthy man, but he sure did love his food. I swear he could eat all day and would never gain a single pound. Just my luck, he was standing in the room, talking with the cook as he was reaching for some cubed cheese sitting on a plate.

"Federico," I greeted warmly, smiling brightly when he turned to face me. "Didn't you say we were going for a horse ride today?"

"Oh, Narina!" He grinned as he walked up to me, his usually fancy clothes dressed down for comfort. "Change of plans—we're not going to ride horses."

I frowned. "Oh." I had been looking forward to it.

"Instead, we're going to take a tour of Florence!"

"Why did you change your mind?" I wondered, not looking forward to walking around on my feet all day.

"You still don't know your way around the city," he mused, leading me out of the kitchen and back through the dining room. "Sure, you know a path from the Mancini's to our home, but what would happen if you got lost in the markets or somewhere else in the city? I want to make sure that your pretty little head know how to come back to me whenever you need."

"Oh." That was a lame response. I reached up and messed with my hair, brushing it from my eyes. "That's a good idea." Federico had been keeping up the compliments, despite how much I tried to make it seem I wasn't interested. He must have seen through my facade and knew that I did find him very attractive and funny, and that I actually liked him complimenting me all the time, making me feel like I was special, even though I knew I wasn't. He had probably used the same lines on girls long before me—that would make sense, for he delivered them with such perfection that it made me wonder how much he had used them.

Federico laughed. "We'll go horse riding some other day, promise! Come." Something seemed wrong. He was acting rather strangely, like his happiness was fake.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, giving him a curious look..

"No." The innocent look he game me convinced me that there was indeed something wrong. "Let's go." I gave him an expectant look as he brushed by me, walking out the front door. But I gave in, deciding that I should trust his judgment, and followed him out of the door.

I spent most of my time with Federico—_just_ Federico. I had never seen Petruccio again, and only on an occasion did I ever see the other Auditore's. The reason was because Federico would sweep me outside before I could get a good look around the house. Sometimes I wondered if it was because he still felt as though I were threatening his family by being there, and as much as that made me feel bad, I was also more impressed with his decision and determination to keep his family out of harms way. Even if he didn't trust me with them, though, he still insisted on my company, and I was at least happy for that.

Our tour turned out just to be a walk—Federico didn't even bother telling me the names of some of the landmarks that we passed, not that I would have remembered them anyway. But he was oddly silent, his hands shoved down into his pockets and his mouth sealed shut.

"You're awfully quiet today," I mused, looking up at him. "Usually you have so much to say."

He smiled. "Sorry. I have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" I prodded, trying to get some information out of him. He then glanced around as if expecting someone to attack us from the crowds.

Then he sighed, turning back to me with a solemn look on his face. "The real reason we're not going horse riding today is because Ezio's getting himself into some trouble. He made me promise that I wasn't going to interfere, but I can't let my little brother get hurt."

"What kind of trouble? Another fight?"

"He's going to try to take of Vieri in a duel—one on one. But I know Vieri and his men; they're not going to be fair, and Ezio will lose. I have to be there to help him."

"Do you know where it's going down?"

"No, but we have been following Ezio for a while now. He'll lead us there."

"We have?" I looked over the crowd, standing briefly on my tip-toes to try and see over all of the people. "I can't even see him!"

Federico smiled again, seeming more true than any that he had flashed me that day. "That's because you're short, and don't know how to spot a target through a crowd."

The way he spoke reminded me of a question that I had been meaning to ask him: was he an assassin like his father? It didn't seem like I could ask him though—I felt like it wasn't any of my business, or that he would tell me if he wanted to. But I made up my mind. "Federico?" I asked, stepping closer to him so that I was bumping into him, inclining my chin to whisper to him. "Are you an assassin too?" I whispered, my lips far from his ear, but he heard me despite of it.

He didn't answer for a long moment, and I thought that I had just crossed the line, so I took a step away and let the question drop. But then he was leaning over me, pulling me closer as if to embrace me. He whispered in my ear, "not yet."

Yet. Did that mean he had never killed before? Did that mean he was still in training? What _had_ he done already? I wanted to ask so much more, but I nodded, keeping my wonders to myself for the moment.

He kept his arm around my waist, like he still had something to say to me, but he never said any words. I felt as though it was a reassurance that, just because he was an assassin didn't mean I couldn't trust him. And I did feel ridiculously safe wrapped in that arm, so I let it stay, even leaning into him a little bit.

We walked through a few more plazas before Federico let go of me, standing straight on his own as his dark gaze locked onto something before him. "I knew it," he whispered.

I followed his gaze to a large group of men, all in stances that suggested they were about to fight. In the middle of the group was Ezio, who had blood streaming out of a broken nose, and an already bruising eye.

"We have to help him!" I mused, not liking how helpless the Auditore looked, but Federico was already two steps ahead of me. I stood and watched as the elder brother approached the group in a fast walk, grabbing the one closest to him, and socking him right in the face. "_Asini_!" He shouted as the group shifted and half went after Federico. "You play an extremely unfair game!"

Although Ezio had asked Federico not to come after him, the younger brother seemed grateful to have his brother fighting at his side. Together, the started to fight back to competition, knocking down some of this Vieri's men. Finally, one of the men, whom I suspected to be Vieri by the stature of his clothes, broke free from the brawl and ran towards my direction. I thought he was simply fleeing until I saw his gaze trained on me. Oh hell no! Turning on my heel, I went to bolt, not about to let this man get his grimy fingers on me.

But those grimy fingers were wrapping around my arm, pulling me back. I automatically cried out, jerking against the grip. "Let go of me!" I snapped. Taking from Federico's example, I turned and swung my fist, plowing it right into Vieri's jaw. I would have felt accomplished, but the punch barely phased the man, his grip only tightening. And he seemed rather upset that I had just punched him. Before I knew it, I was twisted around, pulled against his chest with my arm twisted up against my back. And a knife was pressed to my throat. I froze.

Almost immediately, the brawl stopped, and I saw Federico and Ezio's gazes pinned right on me. The blade pressed closer, making me tense in anticipation of the skin breaking.

"You Auditore's are filthy cowards!" Vieri screamed right in my ear, making my ears start to ring. "And look at the trash you pick up! You allow some whore to worm her way into your life. A weakness!" I could hear the crazy thoughts in the tone of his voice, and I knew that if he really wanted to, Vieri would kill me.

"Vieri, stop!" Federico called out. "She has nothing to do with this. Let her go, or I'll make you regret it."

Vieri snorted, holding me closer, the blade pressed tighter. "Does she really mean that much to you? Is she really worth all of this trouble?"

Federico's gaze narrowed. "She's worth more than anything you'll ever have, Vieri."

Even if I was a good 30 yards away from him, Federico's words really struck something deep inside of me, and I knew right then and there that he really did trust me.

"Is that so?" A chuckle rumbled through my captor, shaking my body. "Then why don't I take her for myself."

"No you—!"

"One step closer and I'll slit her throat."

Federico stopped in his advance. He suddenly looked so lost, unknowing on how to handle the situation. Vieri took a step back, dragging me with him. "Then we'll be leaving now," he mused in a pleasant tone as if it was a social gathering. "Goodbye, you Auditore scum."

If Federico couldn't do anything, then I was going to have to depend on myself. If it were a choice, I would rather die than be raped by some disgusting excuse of a human. Thinking quickly, I violently rammed my elbow backwards, feeling Vieri's ribs. He groaned loudly, letting me go, and I took the opportunity to run for it. As I made my first few steps to catch my balance, Vieri realized what was going on and growled out an angry "Bitch!". Then a sharp pain bolted up my back, making a scream form and escape from my lips. Then I was falling, and I couldn't catch myself. I couldn't focus clearly. Burning waves of pain kept flashing through me, making me gasp in an attempt to quell the pain. In a haze, I watched as Vieri turned and ran as hard as he could, a bloody dagger in his hold. Then a second later, Federico came into my view and was chasing after Vieri, a dark look overshadowing his face as his jaw was clenched in absolute anger.

"Federico!" Ezio's voice came close to me, and I was being rolled over, held against something. "Federico, stop! Forget Vieri!"

I was now focused on a blurry Ezio, who was gazing over me, scarred lips parted in concentration. "Okay, Narina, I need you to stay focused and don't panic."

Slowly, I nodded, feeling an odd numbness wash over me.

"We need to get her to the _dottore_," Federico's voice came, and I was shifted into another set of arms. After the spinning stopped for a moment, I was gazing up into Federico's dark gaze, concern filling them to the brim, though the anger could still be traced within them. "She's going into shock."

Shock? Was I really?

I began to bounce about as Federico started running, the movement causing the pain to briefly breach the numbness every now and again, making me created noiseless gasps. Federico kept rubbing my arm as if my skin was cold, but I couldn't really tell if I was or not. Everything was started to get blurry. "I need you to stay awake, Narina," Federico hummed to me, his voice keeping me from closing my eyes. "Listen to the sound of my voice, and focus on it. Hold on to it."

I wasn't sure if I could do that—his voice was so deep that it would lull me to sleep in any other case. But I gripped onto his breaths, the vibrations of his voice. He kept saying soft words. I couldn't really register what he was actually saying, but my given name was among a few of them, making me forget the rock of his run. Before I knew it, I was being lain down on my stomach, and voices were rushing in a big mess. Just as fast, I was being undressed, my tunic peeled off of me and I was laid down again. Something began probing at my back, reawakening the screaming pain from within, and my body revolted, trying to get away from the pain.

"Hold her," came the words, and my shoulders were held down by strong hands. Everything started to come together again, and things started to come into focus. I was finally able realize that Ezio was standing next to me, holding down my shoulders. I was laying on top of a table, my face pressed against the hard surface. "Hmm," I heard the doctor hum. "I thought it would need stitches, but now that I look, it seems like it won't. We'll bandage it up and she should be good."

The pain was quickly disappearing, and I found myself growing angrier and angrier that Vieri had actually stabbed me. But Ezio's hands kept me pressed down on the table as the doctor cleaned the wound out, putting all sorts of ointments on it to ease the burn. When it came time to bandage me up, the doctor made Ezio leave the room for my sake so that I could help him bandage me up without exposing myself. Once I was all bandaged, I felt better, the pain a low, numb pain in my shoulder blade.

"Don't strain yourself and keep from lifting too heavy of things," he informed me as I walked out of the small building. He held out his hand, and I blankly stared at it, not knowing exactly what he wanted. When it hit me, I felt panic—I didn't have any money. As if hearing my inner turmoil, Ezio reached out and gave the doctor a few gold coins, and we were on our way.

I glanced around. "Where's Federico?"

"He left to go try and find Vieri," Ezio explained.

"Shouldn't we go after him? What if he gets into trouble like you?"

"Federico is tough—besides, he'll make sure he catches Vieri alone."

That made me wonder if Ezio _did_ know about the whole Assassin lineage in his family or not. Did he even know that Federico might actually _kill_ Vieri? Did Ezio even care? I glanced up at him, noticing the smeared blood just under his nose. "How are you fairing? Is your nose broken?"

Ezio seemed surprised that I had even noticed, and he reached up to cover his nose. "Nah, it's just bleeding."

"And your eye?"

"It'll be black, but nothing I can't handle. I'll be fine." He casually shrugged. "Oh, and you're coming home with me."

"Why?"

"Federico insisted that you come to our villa before you go back to the Mancini's. He probably wants to make sure that you're going to be okay before we send you back."

"Ah." A sharp bolt of pain ripped from my shoulder, and I sucked in a deep breath, reaching back to grip at my shoulder. "Ow," I muttered, stopping and slouching a bit.

At that, Ezio hooked an arm around my shoulders and helped me walk, because soon, I was nearly writhing in pain again. Whatever the doctor had used on me was already wearing off. Ezio was basically holding me against his side by the time the villa came into view, and I nearly wept with relief. Once inside, Ezio led me to the spare bedroom I had stayed in before and told me to rest a bit there.

"I'll go talk to Anetta and have her come and check up on you."

"Okay," I muttered, feeling miserable and drowsy.

Ezio left, and I settled down onto my side, too afraid to lay on my back. I felt like I needed to sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to actually close my eyes and concentrate on it. I was worried about Federico. I would hate it if it were to get hurt just because he felt he needed retribution for what had happened to me.

The maid that Federico had talked to before came into the room with a bucket of water and a rag about an hour later, smiling softly at me. She helped me sit up and remove my tunic, unwrapping the bandage and cleaning out the wound once again. After she had dressed it, she told me to not worry about putting the shirt back on, saying it would just cause problems. Whatever Anetta used on my wound made it feel better, and I was able to finally fall asleep.

* * *

I was woken up not too long later by Maria who was sitting at my bed side asking how I was in a low, soothing voice.

"You need to be careful when you're with the boys," she mused as I roused myself, blinking sleepily. Ezio must have told her what had happened. "Here, let me look at the wound." I groggily sat up and Maria unwrapped the bandages. She paused for a moment while I reached up and rubbed my eyes. "Why...it seems that it is...healed."

"Really?" I wanted to look at it, to see if she was right.

"Strange. Ezio told me the blade was to the hilt in your back. He must have been exaggerating."

I'm pretty sure he hadn't, but I didn't want to say anything. A long moment passed as Maria wrapped the bandages again. "You're used to things like this, aren't you?"

She sighed. "Yes. No matter how much it happens, it's still so hard."

"Is...has Federico ever come home hurt like this?"

She didn't reply, perhaps not wanting to scare me, or to keep the truth from me. We sat in a silence for a moment as Maria finished with the bandages. There were footsteps entering the room, and I turned to find Giovanni standing at the side of the bed. "How is she fairing?" he asked.

"The wound is nearly healed. She has the same trait as you do." Maria stood up from the side of the bed, and Giovanni met her halfway in a kiss, to which I looked away, feeling slightly awkward.

"I...I'm sorry for all the trouble," I muttered.

"Our enemies are rash and very harsh," Giovanni answered, making me turn to look at him. Both him and Maria were gazing at me solemnly. "I suppose it was unrealistic to believe that you wouldn't get caught up in it all somehow. Despite you being stabbed, it's good to know you have no alliance with the Pazzis."

Sighing, I hunched over. "Yeah. Good to know."

"And you heal fast," Giovanni mused, "so it makes it all that much better."

I tried to move my shoulder in a rolling motion, but a stiff pain made me stop short. Even though the wound may have been healed on the outside, I still felt the gash on the inside. "I should probably get back to the Mancini's," I mused, reaching for my tunic on the bedside table.

"Why don't you just stay here for the night?" Maria insisted. "It's already dark out and both of the boys are out, so they cannot walk you home. Besides, you are still healing. Stay."

Damn Maria and her caring tone! I couldn't say no to that! So I smiled brightly at her and thanked her warmly, letting my legs drop over the edge of the bed. But then my smile dropped, and I became very concerned. "Has Federico not come back?"

"I'm sure he's out with Ezio," Maria mused, smiling softly. "I'll go have a message sent to the Mancini's saying that you're here for the night." In an elegant swirl of skirts, Maria rose and left the room, leaving me with Giovanni, who was staring at me intently.

As soon as the door closed, he inclined his chin at me. "Who are you, really?" He asked.

I held his stare, wanting to be as convincing as I could. "I really don't remember."

His expression tightened into a deep speculative gaze, judging whether I was being sincere or not. "You are a strange girl," he finally muttered, then he sighed. "I can't figure you out."

"Neither can I," I answered back, folding my hands in my lap.

"Then that's the best we can ask for now." He smiled at me, his dark eyes glinting in the candle light. "You are but a child, Narina. Even if you are in league with our enemies, you can learn to think differently. If this memory lapse is true, then you can now see the world through new eyes. It can be considered a blessing, especially if you have something you want to forget."

His words stung, like I really did have something I wanted to forget. I slowly nodded. "You're right. I can learn to be your ally."

"Exactly." He then bowed his head for a moment before taking a step back. "I'll leave you to rest for now. Goodnight, Narina."

"Goodnight, Giovanni."

After he left, I sat at the edge of my bed for a very long time, trying to think of what I had forgotten, if I had some dark secret in the past. I never even considered if I was married before or had a lover—could I have forgotten one so easily if I had?

I'm not sure how long I stayed up contemplating the same question over and over again, but I was knocked out of my thoughts when there was a noise at my door. Before I could get too scared, the door opened slowly, and Federico walked in.

To my horror, he was covered in blood.

Gasping, I shot up from the bed, ignoring the rush of pain from my shoulder. "_Dio mio_, Federico! What the hell happened! Are you okay?" I rushed up to him, gazing up at his face to make sure nothing was horribly disfigured.

"I'm fine," he mused, throwing me a lopsided grin, though his nose had a very odd crook to it, one of his eyes turning dark around the rim. "Vieri just landed a punch to my nose, no worries."

"What about this blood all over your shirt?" I fretted, seeing how the red speckles were splattered.

"I broke his lip open—he spat all over me."

I stayed quiet for a moment, staring at one of the red dots on his shirt, an important question raising to my thoughts. "You...didn't kill him, did you?" I asked in a low whisper, afraid to hear the answer.

He never responded, making me fear the worse, but then his fingers were pressing under my chin, lifting my face upwards, until I was staring right into his dark, hazel eyes. "No, I didn't," he answered, his voice low, and I read the truth in his eyes, relief washing over me. He dropped his hand. "How's your back?"

"Better. I guess I'm a fast healer or something." At the words, almost as if it were karma, a sharp pain bolted through my back, and I whimpered. "It still hurts a little, I guess."

Clicking his tongue, Federico helped me back to the bed and sat down next to me. "There's no need to lie, Narina—you're face is an open book. Not to mention, you are an extremely terrible liar."

Pouting, I huffed under my breath and muttered "I'm not lying..."

A laugh burst from Federico's mouth and he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me to his side. "I swear, that pout of yours is going to be the death of me! It makes me feel like I'm such a bad person!"

"Good! It should, because you're being mean!" For added effect, I pushed at him and flopped dramatically onto the bed, burying my face into the pillow. "Now go. I'm tired and I want to sleep. You look gross with all that blood all over you."

His chuckle floated to my ear. "Ouch. Don't you think you're being a little rude?" I felt him shift on the bed, the indent of his weight shifting closer to me. Then I felt him around me, leaning over me, and I froze. His face pressed into my hair. For a split moment, I was so confused. Sure, Federico had flirted with me from time to time, and I may have flirted back a few times, but...

"I was so scared that he was going to kill you," he whispered, his hot breath twirling through my hair and fanning over the back of my neck.

That's all he needed to say. Closing my eyes tighter, I focused on how his head slightly shifted, nuzzling closer to me. We stayed there for a moment, neither of us moving or talking. A week hadn't seemed that long of a time to know someone, but in hindsight, that was longer than I could have ever expected.

Finally, he moved away, his weight lifting from the bed. I rolled over, looking up at him. His eyes were darkened into shadows, his brows furrowed. The stare was so intense, it made me blush, and I had to force a smile to keep the hysteria from rising.

He slowly smiled back, just as forced as mine. "Goodnight," he whispered. "I'll walk you home in the morning."

"Okay," I whispered, my voice sounding breathy. "Night."

Without a look back, he left the room, closing the door quietly.

* * *

**I might as well warn all of you right now just in case some of you are more sensitive to certain things: things are going to get kinda sexual with Narina and Federico. Okay, that's a bit of an overstatement—they're not going to have sex or anything, but..you know, foreplay shit...maybe. I've been considering taking that path while on my long, long walk to classes.**

**I guess what I'm trying to get at is: Should I take that road, or just stick with more of a "crush" situation? I'm fine with either.**

**I'm going to wrap up the rest of the business shit in the next chapter—like meeting Leonardo, fighting Duccio, and all that crap. I'll make sure to write more on the family that Narina is staying with as well, although nothing too much because it's very unlikely that they'll be extremely important later on down the road. Then the next chapter is the sad one. I want to try and move this story along faster than my other story, although that will probably never happen. (It'll probably end up longer, actually.)**

**And YOU. Yeah. YOU. The person who faves but doesn't review. I'm watching you.**

**Kidding.  
If it makes you feel better, I answer every review I get (that isn't anonymous, anyway). So, you know...if you wanna talk, just leave a review and I'm sure we'll have some freaking awesome conversations.**

**So yeah. **

**Thanks for reading and PLEASE review! (Feedback is always appreciated!)**


	5. Happy Times

**-WASSUP BITCHES!?  
****I'm calling you all bitches now. Not in the bad way, the good way. :) It means I like you, promise!**

**-So, since I now live close to a Gamestop, I've decided that, even though I have no money, I'm going to stay up for the Midnight Release of ACIII with one of my good friends, Mitchell, and it's going to be a party. Then I'll go for the release of Halo 4, and I'll even go to the release of Borderlands 2 with him! It's going to be so freaking awesome!**

**Thanks for reviewing!:  
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* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Happy Times**

* * *

Before I knew it, three weeks had flown by. Winter hit Italy—it would snow lightly every now and again, melting away under the sun's rays. Even if the days were still cold, Federico always insisted on dragging me out into the city, taking me on runs with him across the rooftops while my nose got all red and my cheeks were sore, both from the chill and my smiles. Christmas passed, a day of feasts between the two families that I had come to accept as my own, although Giovanni hadn't been present—his "job" took him out of the city.

I was finally able to get to know the Auditore's a little bit better as the weeks passed. I figured out that Giovanni and Maria had the most amazing love that anyone would have to be jealous of. They were so passionate without even having to touch each other. It made no sense to me, but it still warmed my heart to see them so happy despite many of the problems that probably challenged them. Claudia was one fiery spirit for a 16 year old—it must have been a side effect from growing up with two older rambunctious brothers. I learned that Petruccio was ill—very ill. He had to be kept inside because he was weak, which was sad. I felt like he should be playing with the other children in the city, being a kid. The only Auditore that I didn't really learn more about was actually Ezio. Although he was quite the talker whenever I would see him, he was always gone before I could really try to figure him out. It was like he couldn't stay in one place.

Something changed after that day Vieri stabbed me. Something in Federico, that is, and I guess in me too. I thought we had spent a lot of time together before, but soon after my wound healed, we began to spend nearly every waking hour together. He'd be waiting for me just outside of my window when I would wake up, then walk me home every night. He became my best friend in a world that was lost to me.

From the first moment I saw him, I knew Federico was a flirt, and I thought I knew the game that he was mastered at, but when he started kissing me, I found that I had been roped in without even realizing it. And also that I didn't mind. At first, it was kind of strange, something new that I would become easily flustered. But after the first few kisses, even those started to change. Whenever we were alone and were laughing and moving closer to each other, he would lean over, threading his fingers through my hair, and press his mouth to mine, his tongue touching my skin. It became something that was inevitable.

As an inevitable event, when Federico claimed he was going to teach me how to play chess, we ended up leaning across the black and white checkered board to press our lips together. Federico was a good kisser—not that I had anything to compare it to, but he just seemed like he knew what he was doing, the way his tongue thrust against mine and his stubbly chin would rub against mine just right. He was four years senior to my sixteen years, or seventeen, considering I was sure that my birthday had been sometime before Christmas, but that didn't even phase how I began to feel about him.

Just as things were getting messy, our breaths uneven, someone cleared their throat, and we tore away from each other, sending some chess figures from the table top. Ezio stood in the doorway, grinning, leaning against the frame. "Having fun?" he mused lightly, raising a brow at us.

"What do you want?" Federico asked, annoyed that he had been disrupted.

Growing serious, Ezio threw a thumb over his shoulder. "Claudia's bawling her eyes out downstairs. She said something about Duccio—we need to go settle a score."

Federico grew quite solemn as well, standing up. "Did he cheat on her?"

Ezio shrugged. "I don't care. He's getting his ass-kicked no matter what." Another point I realized over the past month was that the brothers really took care of their sister.

"Narina." Federico looked back at me, his eyes guarded. "Stay here—I'll be back."

"Are you kidding?" I mused, standing up and grinning at him. "I'm not going to miss a fight! I'll follow wherever you go, right?"

He smiled softly, but it didn't touch his eyes.

We all paraded down the hall and down into the front room. There, Giovanni stood with Maria, their faces close together, talking in low whispers. Federico and Ezio ignored the scene, but I couldn't help but watch how the love just seemed to flower around the married couple. Federico had told me before that some guards came by the house just a few days prior, looking for Giovanni. Something was brewing, and I didn't like it. Running to catch up with the boys, we continued our march through the city.

The sky was an ugly gray above us, but no snow had fallen for a good two days. It was still freezing cold, the air nippy, and I was glad that Federico had convinced me to wear an extra layer of clothes today. As I tagged along in quick little shuffles to keep up with the long strides of the boys, Federico reached out and took my hand into his, his long fingers wrapping through mine, warming me with the slightest touch.

"Where do you think he is?" Federico asked Ezio when the younger brother weaved through the crowds.

"His usual spot, probably," Ezio replied. "Over by the _Santa Croce_."

"With a woman?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

After a few more minutes of walking, Ezio stopped and gazed over a giant plaza that we had come upon. I gazed up at the giant building in front of us, the Santa Croce, as Federico had once told me. I was beginning to remember Florence's landmarks, simply because they were all very familiar.

"There," Federico spoke, pointing across the clearing. At the end of his point was two people, one a scrawny looking man, and the other was a larger woman. They were kissing and laughing to each other, but they were no Giovanni and Maria—it was slightly disgusting, actually. In public? Really? Some people baffled me.

Letting go of my hand, Federico joined Ezio and ran over towards the couple. I quickly followed behind, knowing to stay back from a fight.

"Duccio!" The boy kissing the woman looked up just in time to watch Ezio's fist smash right into his nose. Crying out, Duccio flailed back, reaching up and holding his already bleeding nose. The larger woman squealed in shock and hid behind the thin man, thinking that would offer her protection. "You insult my sister," Ezio snapped, throwing an angry finger at the woman, "parading around with this _puttana!_" The woman gasped, like she couldn't believe the accusation.

"What are you talking about?" Duccio asked in a loud whine, playing innocent as he wiped the blood on the back of his hand.

"Don't play stupid!" Ezio snapped, more angry than I thought he was. "I heard the words you told his harpy—the gift you gave her!"

Duccio spat out a wad of blood onto the stone, and he glared up at Ezio, reaching out and jabbing a finger into the younger Auditore's chest. "Well, if your sister wasn't so stingy with her virtue, I wouldn't—."

Federico stepped in, smacking Duccio's arm away. "You broke her heart," he said in a dark tone that I didn't recognize.

"Good! Now I'll break your faces!" The man pulled up his arms in a poor battle stance. "You Auditore's always speak of such strength, but when it comes to actual action, you are nothing but twits!"

"You'll regret opening that mouth of yours!" Ezio growled out, but keeping his fists down, not wanting to start the fight and be blamed.

"Just imagine the wonders I could have taught your sister! If she were so painstakingly stubborn and dimwitted, I would have her bent over a table right now."

The was the final straw. Ezio, his jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth would crack, reached forward and gripped the front of Duccio's shirt, pulling the skinny man right into a punch. Everyone in the area gasped and began to watch the brawl, not even bothering to try and interfere.

Duccio stumbled back, crying out again. His nose had to have been broken, but he straightened and put himself back in his poor excuse of a fighting stance. The woman had fled, screaming out, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was going to the guards. Duccio swung poorly at Ezio, missing entirely as Ezio jumped back. Federico reached forward, taking a hold of Duccio's bowed head before bringing the man's face to his knee, making a disgusting crack sound out, making me flinch and realizing I didn't want them to fight anymore. Duccio fell to the ground, groaning out. For good measure, Ezio rolled the man so he was spread eagle on his back. "Stay away from my sister, you filth," he spat, kicking the man in the side. For added effect, Federico literally spat on Duccio's face, and the two brother's approached me.

"Let's get out of here before the guards show," Federico suggested, taking my hand again.

Then we were all running back through the city, back to the safety of the villa. Although it was a more leisure run, I was still out of breath by the time we stopped by the village, slipping through the front gates and into the house. As we (and when I say we, I really mean just me) tried to catch our breath, Giovanni walked out of his study, looking up at us solemnly.

"Federico," he mused, inclining his chin. "I need to speak with you."

Federico looked down at me for a moment, squeezing my hand before he let go and followed his father back into the study, the door closing.

Ezio gave me a side glance, putting his hands in his pockets.

I looked at him. "What?" I asked.

Shrugging, he looked away. "Nothing."

"Ah, Ezio, there you are." We looked up to see Maria walking down the stairs, a small smile on her face. "I want you to come on an errand with me."

"An errand?" Ezio frowned, but nodded in acceptance.

I looked at the study doors, realizing that Federico might be busy for a while. "May I come too?" I asked Maria.

"Of course. Let's go."

Glancing back at the study doors again, I followed after the two out the door and back into the cold weather. Maria led us down the street as Ezio and I tagged along behind her.

I leaned over to Ezio. "Do we need to worry about the guards?" I asked him in a whisper.

"Nah. We should be fine," Ezio replied, nodding reassuringly. "If Duccio knows what's best for him, he'll let it slide."

Maria turned her head to the side, catching out gazes. "Ezio, I must speak with you about that fight you got in with Vieri so long ago."

Ezio grumbled under his breath, obviously not wanting to talk about it, and he reached up to rub at the scar that was welted into his face. "What about it?"

"I'm just concerned. You mustn't be so brash—I'm sure Vieri is having a hard enough time with the accusations being thrown at his father."

"He was speaking ill of our family," Ezio argued. "I couldn't allow it to continue."

Maria shot Ezio a look. "Have you heard what is being spoken of Francesco? They are saying he is a murderer. I could have never imagined."

I listened in a curious silence, taking note of the conversation in my head to talk about it with Federico later.

"What will happen to him?" Ezio asked.

"I imagine there will be a trial."

"And will father be there? To speak?"

Maria nodded. "He'll have to—he is the one with all of the evidence."

My brow furrowed. Giovanni was going against someone who was a murderer when he himself was an _assassin_. Wasn't that just a fancy word for "murderer"? Maybe I didn't really understand this whole Assassin thing as well as I had first thought.

Ezio sighed and looked up at the top of the buildings as if looking for an escape. "Still, I wish there was another way," he whispered.

Maria patted his arm comfortingly. "You've nothing to fear, my son. Everyone wants a form of justice, and although it's an unfortunate state of affairs, it'll pass."

Our walk came to a halt at a very tall building, Maria gazing up at it. "Ah, here we are," she mused.

"What are we doing here?" Ezio wondered, looking up as well.

"This is the home of a dear friend, Ezio. Leonardo Da Vinci is his name—he's an artist, and has done some commission work for me."

Ezio snorted, not at all impressed.

Instead of berating her son for his rude gesture, Maria walked forward towards the door and knocked lightly on it. We waited a moment before the door swung open. A man in his mid-thirties was standing in the door way, dirty blond hair falling straight from a red cap perched on his head. He had the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen, and the most friendly smile ever.

"Ah! _Madonna_ Maria! It is so good to see you!"

"You as well, Leonardo," Maria mused, exchanging greeting kisses. She turned back to us. "Leonardo, this is my son, Ezio, and his friend, Narina."

"A pleasure, Ezio and Narina," the man mused, giving us a short bow.

"Likewise," Ezio said with a pleasing smile as I curtsied to the artist.

"I'll go grab the paintings. I'll be right out." Leonardo disappeared in the house once more.

Maria turned and smiled brightly at us. "He is so very talented."

Ezio shrugged, looking across the street. "I guess."

"My son, self-expression is vital to understanding and enjoying life. You, too, should find an outlet."

"I have plenty of outlets," Ezio mused, giving his mother a casual smile.

Maria wasn't impressed, her face dropping into a stern look. "I meant besides vaginas."

I couldn't help it; I burst up laughing. From what I did know of Ezio, that hit the mark—he was always over at Cristina's or out with her somewhere else.

"Mother," Ezio dragged out, giving his mother an exasperated look as he ignored my outburst of giggles.

"To your house, then?" Leonardo had come back out, carrying a big box that held painting.

"_Si, si_," Maria mused, dropping the subject at hand and walking next to Leonardo who put the box down on the ground as he huffed. "Ezio, why don't you help Leonardo with this box?"

Grumbling, Ezio bent over and heaved the box into his arms, the weight not even bothering him.

We started walking, back towards the villa. "So!" Leonardo chirped. "What do you do, Ezio?"

"He is currently working with his father," Maria answered, the pride showing in her voice.

"Ah, so you are to be a banker, then?" _That_ was hard to imagine. Ezio as a banker? Like he could sit down and do all that work in one spot—he had to be constantly moving, I swear.

"For now, anyway," Ezio answered, shifting the box. "And you? Art, was it?"

I threw him a glare, not liking the snide tone that he was using.

"Ah, but I can't decide!" Leonardo mused, missing Ezio's jibe. "You see, I'm not sure-it's quite hard for me to settle. I feel that my painting isn't enough, that it doesn't have a great purpose. I want to be able to deliver more directly, yes? Like through architect, anatomy-I don't just want to capture the world in a painting, I want to _change_ it."

"I am sure that you will make many wonderful things, Leonardo!" Maria praised.

"Thank you—you are much too kind."

Stepping forward, I came in line with the young artist. "So, what kind of things are you planning on doing?" I wondered, smiling at him when he looked at me.

"Well, you see," he started, branching out his hands into the air. "I want to understand humans, their desires, how they interact with objects and how those objects can be changed to mold to our desires. It take more than just a creative eye to obtain these things."

I nodded. "So, you're an inventor, then?"

"Not yet, but soon indeed!" Leonardo seemed excited that someone was interested in what he did, but we arrived at the house far too soon for him to expound on his interests. Ezio put down the boxes just inside the front door, and Maria turned to the artist.

"Thank you again, Leonardo. And thank you, Ezio—please, do not let me keep you from your day. You can run along now."

Ezio seemed relieved, but bowed to Leonardo. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Leonardo."

"And you as well, Ezio, Narina." The man bowed his head and smiled widely at us. "I hope our paths cross again someday."

"As do I." The artist walked back down the street, a spring in his step. He was very carefree for an adult—I began to wonder if he had never really grown up and all of his inspiration came from that childish mind. When I turned, Ezio was gone, and Maria was walking into the house. Not sure where the younger Auditore went, I quickly followed Maria and walked into the house. The study doors were still closed tight, so I imagined that Federico was still busy.

Deciding that I could use a nap, I walked up the stairs, prepared on going to sleep in the spare bedroom. However, on the way there, I passed a room with an open door, and movement inside caught my eye. I stepped back to look into the door, seeing Petruccio sitting at the window, the shutters open, and his hand outstretched through the window. A white feather was pinched in between his fingers, the strands rustling in the wind.

I knocked on the frame, making the child look back at me. "Isn't it a bit cold to have the window open?" I asked, smiling at him.

He grinned back, his childish, round face morphing at the gesture. "Hello, Narina. Come here for a second!" I walked into the room, realizing that it was an empty room, only a table tucked over in the side with a candle on it and a small loveseat next to that. There were a few books laying on the ground, and I wondered if this room was Petruccio's place to hang out.

"What are you up to?" I asked, smiling at the boy as I stood by him.

He held out the feather, his eyes bright. "Isn't this such a pretty feather?" My mind registered that it was an eagle feather as I stared at the white feather that had browns mixed in with it.

"Yes, it is. Where did you get it?" I couldn't imagine that he had ran outside to get it.

"Ezio grabbed it for me," he mused, smiling widely at the mention of his brother. "There was an abandoned nest up on the rooftops, and Ezio went and grabbed them for me."

"Do you like feathers?" I wondered, jumping up and sitting in the window sill.

Petruccio nodded. "Yes. I want to collect a bunch for..." he drifted off, suddenly growing bashful. "Well...it's a secret."

"A secret?" I tilted my head. "What kind of secret?"

"You'll see!" Petruccio studied that feather, smile on his face brighter than the sun. "Once I have enough, you'll see."

Before I could try and pry the truth out from the kid, there was a knock on the wooden frame of the door, and Petruccio and I looked up. Federico stood in the entry way, smiling softly. "Another feather, Petruccio? You are well on your way to your goal!"

"I know!" Petruccio jumped up from his seat and ran up to Federico, holding out the feather so that the elder brother could examine it. "Isn't this one pretty?"

"_Si_, Petruccio. Very pretty." Federico glanced up at me before he continued talking to his youngest brother. "But I believe it's time for you to go back to your room now. You can't be running around so much."

Petruccio seemed to deflate, but nodded at his brother's words. "Alright," he murmured, shuffling passed Federico. "See you later, Narina."

"Bye, Petruccio!" I called out after the youngest Auditore.

Federico watched the boy walk down the hall for a moment, making sure he was really going to his room, before he looked back over at me.

I smiled. "Hey. What did your father want?"

"Ah, nothing," he mused, walking into the room, bending over to pick up the scattered books. "Just wanted to talk about...well, you know, 'training'."

"Oh." He placed the books on the side table as he sat down on the couch, deflating much like his younger brother had. "You seem tired," I pointed out, shivering when a particularly cold breeze brushed against my back.

"Yeah. It's been a rough week with this whole trial about to happen."

"Oh right. Your mother was talking about that earlier today."

Federico rubbed at his face, sitting up and placing his elbows on his knees as he stroked his stubbly chin. "It's going to be a tough battle," he whispered. "I'll admit that I'm a little afraid."

Jumping down from the window sill, I walked over to Federico and sat next to him, leaning into his shoulder to try and comfort him. "Just know that you're not alone," I hummed, rubbing my cheek against his shoulder. "You have an amazing family."

"And you," he whispered, turning to look at me with a soft smile on his face. "And you too." His hand reached up, threading into my hair and curling around my neck and I shifted around so that I was leaning more into his chest. Just as I had said before, the inevitable kiss came, slow and soft at first, more of a comfort than anything related to passion. But then that strange thing between us changed, and the kisses became faster, more deep as his tongue pried through my lips and dipped into my mouth, spearing against mine.

Before I knew it, I was leaned back on the couch, laying down on the cushions, and Federico was on top of me, his mouth still seared to mine. My tiny arms reached up around him, holding his hard, muscled body as his hand captured my face between them, the kisses becoming more rough and impatient. I was having a difficult time breathing, my head spinning, filled too much with his hot breaths.

One of his hands dropped from my face, curling around my neck for a moment, before he let it dip lower, down across my chest, down my stomach, which clenched uneasily at this new touch. His hand stopped at the front of my slacks, where his fingers pressed against my core, causing a frightening bolt of some powerful feeling to zip through me.

I jerked away from the kiss. "Wait," I breathed as fear washed through me.

Federico leaned away, his breaths unsteady, his eyes hazed with something that I had never seen before.

"I...I don't..." I didn't know what to say. I felt as though things were moving far too fast—when had _this_ Federico come out? Kisses were one thing, but actually touching me in such an intimate way was another.

"You're a virgin." It wasn't a question.

I nodded slowly, staring up into his eyes that had darkened to near black. "Yeah."

Then he was laughing, pulling away so he was sitting up on the other side of the couch. I pushed myself up as he was finishing in chuckles, shaking his head. "Sorry," he mused, "I'm not laughing at you, promise."

"What's so funny, then?" I pouted.

Sighing, laughs all gone, Federico looked back over to me, looking more tired now than he had before. "You're just too perfect," he muttered. "Too innocent. Too enticing. You're like a Goddess or something, and I'm the lowly human that makes mistakes."

"Nonsense," I said, reaching out and taking his hand, smiling up at him. "We are both humans, silly."

We stared at each other for a long time before he sighed, removing his hand from mine, and placing it on my leg, pulling it closer to him. "Sorry. I'm trying to move you too fast. We can take it slower."

"It's okay. I'm just inexperienced." I wrapped my arm around his, hugging his arm to me. "I trust you."

"I know." He kissed the top of my head.

For a few minutes, we sat with each other and said nothing. Then I moved my head, turning it about to look up at him. "Let's go try to play chess for reals this time."

Chuckling, Federico stood and brought me with him. "Fine, fine."

But, of course, even with our minds set on the game, the inevitable still happened.

* * *

**So that's your FedericoXNarina loving. There's going to be little bit more in the next chapter before the...well, you know. Yeah.**

**Spoiler alert: She gets pregnant.  
Kidding. More than half of you know why that won't happen.**

**As I was writing this, I totally realized that Fanfiction is cracking down on smut lately...I would be so sad if I got all the way to the smut on this story and then for it to be shut down. D: Nooooo!**

**Anyway.**

**This whole thing is going down next chapter. Which means I'll probably stall on writing it. Which means there's a good chance I won't update as quickly as I have been. But we'll never know.**

**Thanks for reading! And keep the reviews coming! It gives me something to do! :) And I enjoy talking to my readers!**


	6. Slipping Through My Fingers

**-Came home yesterday. It's pretty nice! c:**

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* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Slipping Though My Fingers**

* * *

I enjoyed the feel of Federico's hair through my fingers. He had thick hair, heavy and dark. He would often let me play with it, sitting between my legs on the ground while I perched myself at the edge of the couch and played with the dark strands. Petruccio would occasionally come and sit with us, talk about how his collection of feathers was going. When I tried to ask him about his reasoning again, he simply shook his head and told me, once again, that it was a secret. I had asked Federico if he knew, but he shook his head "no".

Two days had passed since Federico had tried to take the next step in our relationship with me, and, much to my relief, he laid off of it, simply contenting himself to the kisses. Which was fine by me. I didn't want to rush so fast that we burnt ourselves out.

"We should do something fun," Federico mused, leaning his head back to look up at me.

"Something like what?" I asked, letting my hands slide down to the sides of his face.

"I don't know. I feel like we should be out somewhere."

I smiled. "It's the middle of the night. And it's cold out."

"Not a problem," Federico said with a charming grin. "The moon is bright tonight and, if we stay close to each other, we'll stay warm."

Petruccio huffed, folding his arms. "That's not fair! I want to do something too!"

Federico laughed. "Fine, fine. We'll stay here with you. If you want, you can go ask Annetta to help you bring the chess set in here—I'll teach you how to play."

The child's face lit up. "Alright!" He ran out of the room, making me smile. It was insane to think that the kid was sick—he acted just as normal as any other child on the street.

Federico sighed, leaning his head forward. "You should give me a head massage," he muttered.

If that meant I got to touch his hair, that was fine with me. I focused on rubbing certain spots on his head trying to ease some of the tension I had noticed he was accumulating the past few days.

"My father wants me to travel to Milan," he finally said, his head lolling back so that he could look up at my face. "I'll be gone for about two weeks."

My heart sank. "When are you leaving?"

"A few days—after the trial." He paused, staring up into my eyes as I sighed. "You can come, if you want," he whispered, his voice quiet like he hadn't made the decision yet himself.

A glimmer of hope appeared. "Could I really?"

Taking a hold of my hand in his, he pressed my hand to his lips. "You said you'd follow me anywhere I went, right?"

A broad smile stretched my mouth, and I bent over, pressing my lips to his as I held his face. It would be nice to go and see the rest of Italy—maybe something outside of the city walls would trigger my memories.

"Federico!" The scream caused us both to bolt up, warily looking around. That was Petruccio's voice! Before I could say anything, Federico was out of the room, running down the hall. I followed quickly after him, a sickening feeling settling in my stomach. Something bad was about to happen.

When we got to the front room with the stairs, there were guards lining the room, one holding a squirming Petruccio. Giovanni was also being held, his lip cracked with blood trickling from it. He looked more calm—angry, but calm in the same sense. What was going on?

Federico bristled. "Let them go!" he roared, running down the stairs. In horror, I watched as the guards lifted their swords and pointed them at Federico threateningly. "Let my brother go!" Federico demanded, stopping in his tracks. "Take me, just let him go!" The guards glanced at each other, and untied the rope holding the small child, nodding to Federico.

Something gripped my stomach. "No!" I cried, my brow furrowing as I made a move to run down the stairs. I was suddenly ripped away from my path to Federico, tugged aside by a waiting guard who had seemed to anticipate my attempt to try and stop Federico. As I struggled against his grip, I tried to catch Federico's gaze, but he had his head down as the guards grabbed at him, motions harsh and jerking. I tugged hard at my restraints. "No! Stop! Let them go!" I cried as they tied Federico's hands together, just as they had Giovanni's.

But then the guards grabbed Petruccio once again, the child screaming out in terror as they bound him once more. Federico grew furious, fighting against his rope, swinging his legs to try and fight the guards off.

"You sons of bitches!" He spat, as he was restrained by three guards, ceasing his struggles. "You'll all pay for this! I swear it!" The guards marched the men out the front door.

"Federico!" I cried out, straining against the man's hold on me. Then the pommel of a sword whacked on the back of my head, and I teetered on the cusp of consciousness. The guard holding me let go, and I fell forward, blacking out.

* * *

I woke up to a wet cloth pressed to my forehead. Opening my eyes, I gazed up at Annetta, her brows knitted with worry.

"Ah, _Signorina_. You're finally awake."

Reaching up to rub my head, I grumbled, "What happened? Where are the Auditore's?"

"The guards are taking the men to prison," the maid explained.

My heart sank. "Even Petruccio? He's but a child!"

"They do not care—the crime makes it so that it doesn't matter who is punished."

"What crime?" I asked, gazing up at her.

"Treason. I'm not sure how, but that's what they claimed."

"Where're Maria and Claudia?"

"They are here." Annetta gestured over across the small room we were in. Over on a couch sat Claudia and Maria, the mother and daughter holding hands and sitting close together. "I'm afraid that Maria has gone into shock. They...did terrible things to Giovanni when she tried to resist and they...she..."

I held a hand up to stop her, not wanting to hear the rest. "We have to help them," I mused, looking up at Annetta. "Where did they take them?"

"To the _Palazza Dela Signora—_it the largest prison we have here in Florence."

"Then we go there." I made a move to stand up.

"No!" Annetta stopped me. "The prison is the most heavily guarded building in the city! There's no way you'll be able to get in, and even if you do, you won't be able to bring the men back out."

"Well, sitting here doing nothing isn't going to do anything, either!" I snapped, annoyed that she wasn't trying to help save them.

"Won't they have a trial?" Claudia asked, looking up at us. "They will, won't they? Father can explain then that this is all just a big misunderstanding!"

"They will, I am sure. There is justice in this city," Annetta said reassuringly to Claudia.

I wasn't convinced. "What makes you think that the city will listen to them when the city was the one to claim they were committing treason? Look." I stood up, feeling determination rising in my chest. "I'm going to go there one way or another—I'm not going to let them be wrongly accused."

Just then, a loud noise sounded out in the too quiet villa—the front door opening. "It must be the guards," Annetta whispered, fear flashing in her eyes. "They may have come back to look for _Ser_ Ezio!"

Anger washed over me. I wanted to make the stupid guards pay for breaking apart the family that I loved so much. Looking around the room, I saw a pot over in the corner, covered in decorative swirls. Walking over to it, I lifted it up into my arms and poised it over my head like a weapon. "I'm going to make them pay," I growled, walking towards the slightly opened door. I peeked through it, gazing out in the front room. There was a figure that was standing and gazing around, searching. Gritting my teeth, I slipped through the door and slowly made my way closer to the figure. Just as I hoisted the vase up, preparing to smash it against the man's head, he turned suddenly and ducked away before I could hit him.

"Are you daft!?" A voice rang out as the pot shattered against the floor.

I looked up quickly. "Ezio?"

"_Ser_ Ezio!" Annetta came running out of the room, relief washing all over her face. "You're okay!"

Ezio looked at Annetta after giving me a frown for attacking him, to which I shrugged. "What's happened here? Where are the others?"

Annetta explained what had happened, how the guards had broken into their home and took his father and siblings to prison.

"What of my mother and Claudia?" Ezio wondered after the story had been told, fear settling in his eyes.

"Ezio!" Claudia stood at the door, her eyes wide with relief.

"Claudia!" Ezio raced up to her and brought her into a hug. "Are you alright?" He asked, backing away from her.

"_Si_, I am fine," Claudia explained, but was shaking her head. "But mother..." Claudia led Ezio to the entrance of the room, and they gazed upon their mother who was still sitting in the same spot, staring at nothing.

"She's in shock," Annetta claimed, wringing her hands. "When she resisted they... she..." The maid trailed off.

Ezio was shaking his head, more in disbelief than in argument. "It's not safe here," he claimed. "Is there someplace safe where you can take them, Annetta?"

"Yes," Annetta whispered then again with more vigor, "yes! To my sisters!"

"Good. Take these three there." As Claudia ran to Annetta for a hug, I watched Ezio turn towards the door, determination forming in his golden gaze. "In the meantime, I'm going to go talk with my father."

"Be careful, Ezio," Annetta mused. "The guards were looking for you as well."

With that, Ezio nodded and twisted around, heading out the door. I clenched my jaw, wanting to help out as well. I had to. Running out the front door, ignoring Annetta's claims to stay, I chased Ezio down the dark streets, the chilly winter air making me wish I had worn warmer clothes.

"Ezio!" I called to him, making him stop to look at me. "I'm coming with," I told him as I approached him.

"No, you're not," he objected, his breath turning into a puff before my eyes. "Go with Annetta and my family."

"No." He stared at me for a moment, like he couldn't believe I was arguing with him. I folded my arms. "I'm going with. If you don't take me with you, I'm just going to follow you."

"You'll get lost," he argued, "because I'm not taking you along. It's too dangerous."

"Threaten me all you like—I'm still going."

Ezio frowned, an unpleasant expression for his pretty face. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly closed it. "If you get hurt, it is not my fault."

"I don't see how it could be," I mused, internally celebrating that I had won.

Ezio groaned. "Federico is going to kill me."

"No, he won't. Let's go."

I told Federico I would follow him, and that's what I was going to do. And I would save him, just like he saved me so many times.

With that, Ezio began to jog down the streets with me following right on his heels. After a few buildings passed, Ezio decided he'd rather take the rooftops. Either that, or it was an attempt to try and make me not want to follow him. Like a monkey, he lifted himself up the side of the building, and I simply stared up at him, not even knowing where to begin. But I wasn't going to give up so soon. Taking a deep breath, I stepped up on a crate like Ezio had and reached up to take a hold of a crevice. Heaving myself up, I let my foot stick into a hole in the wall. But then I was stuck.. I had no way to move. How the hell did the Auditore's do it so effortlessly? Sucking it up, I looked up shakily as I looked for another grabbing point, and when I reached for it, I nearly fell backwards, my legs shaking under me. Finally, after a wasted five minutes, I had inched up the wall a good four feet. But I still had such a long way to go.

"Narina." I looked up, out of breath, my blood pounding loudly in my head. Ezio was laying over the edge, his hand outstretched towards me. "Here."

His hand was just out of my reach, and I had to inch up a little bit more before I could firmly grasp onto his hand. My palm was so sweaty despite the cold air and it nearly slipped from his, but he still tugged me up, setting me down on the roof as I caught my breath. Looking down at my palms, which had been soft and unmarred when I'd first looked to them after falling through that roof, were covered in dirt, calloused, and cut in a few spots. I frowned, deciding that I needed to get better at climbing things.

Ezio made me perch myself upon his back for the rest of the trip. The night air was colder up on the roofs, the open sky making the night brighter but chilly. Ezio was just as talented as his elder brother with running across the roofs, taking the gaps between the buildings in stride, even with me perched upon his back. The echoes of Ezio's footsteps pounding away on the roof tiles seemed eerie.

Ezio stopped, looking up across the plaza that we were above. I looked around, up at the tall tower that was before us.

"Is this the place?" I asked.

"_Si_. No doubt they are being held up in the tower." Ezio shifted me so that I was more comfortably on his back. "Do I even try to convince you to stay here?"

"No," I answered immediately.

"We have a greater chance of getting killed with you coming along."

I frowned, not liking the thought of that. But I wasn't going to _not_ go up there. "We'll be okay."

Ezio sighed in resignation. "Fine."

He ran around the plaza from the rooftops, trying to find the easiest way to scale the building so we could reach the top of the tower. We would have to get to the back of the building and scale the scaffolding before Ezio could start making his climb. But we would have to be careful—there were guards posted around the building, up on the back and near the tower. I licked my lips in anticipation. We could survive this. We had to.

Ezio had to scale the back of the building to reach the scaffolding on the lower roof, hanging off of the edge of the building as we would wait quietly for a guard walking by to disappear around a corner before Ezio would haul us up over the edge. We made it up the scaffolding with ease, and then we were climbing the tower. By this time, however, Ezio was out of breath, obviously not used to carrying the extra weight. We were so close that I almost made him go faster, But I felt bad for making him haul me around, so I held my tongue.

Finally, we made it to the window, Ezio reaching up and gripping the bars, hoisting us up to eye level.

"Father!" Ezio called out into the darkened room.

"Ezio!" Giovanni's face appeared, looking far worse than he had back in the villa.

"Father! What's happened?" Ezio asked.

"I took a bit of a beating, but I'm alright," Giovanni mused, nodding to his son.

"Narina!" Federico's face appeared in the moonlight through the bars next to his father's. I gasped when I saw his eye swollen shut, bruised in an ugly purple.

"Are you okay?" I asked, reaching around Ezio to hold on to Federico's hand that he had reached out of the bars.

As he nodded, Giovanni began talking, "What of your mother and sister, Ezio?"

"They are safe, for now."

Giovanni was quiet for a moment. "Annetta took them."

"Yes." Ezio gave his father a surprised look. "Wait! You knew this was going to happen?"

"Not the way it did," he sighed and turned down his face, "and not this soon." Giovanni suddenly looked defeated, his face falling into despair. "It doesn't matter now."

"What do you mean? Explain!" Ezio begged, his fingers gripping around the bars.

"There's no time," Giovanni hushed his son though the fire returned to his eyes. "Listen to me closely, Ezio: go back to the house, and in my office there is a hidden door. Use your talents to find it. Beyond lies a chest. Take _everything_ you find inside." Ezio nodded. "Much of it may seem strange to you, but all of it is important. Do you understand?"

"Yes father." Ezio nodded again.

"Good." Giovanni leaned away from the window. "Inside the chest, there is a letter along with some documents. I need you to take these documents to Uberto Alberti."

"_Si_, the _Gonfaloniere_, I remember."

Federico momentarily let go of my hand, his figure retreating into the darkness. His face appeared again, worried etched into his usually carefree face. "_Idioto_," he whispered to me, reaching out and touching my face, his warm fingers pressing against my cold cheek.. "It's dangerous for you to be here!"

"I told you I'd follow you," I replied, leaning into his touch. "It doesn't matter how dangerous it is."

He seemed sad at the words, and he pulled back his hand, his other reaching out and handing me something. "It's my necklace," he told me. "I've had it since I was a child. Keep it with you."

Why did I get the feeling he was saying goodbye?

When I took the necklace in my hand, our fingers lingering against each other, his reaching hand balled into a fist and knocked into Ezio's shoulder. "Keep her safe for me, understand?"

Ezio nodded solemnly. Federico gave me one last look. "Be careful, Narina. These are dangerous times, and you're much too beautiful to be caught in the darkness." Then he disappeared back into the shadows of the room.

For a short moment, Ezio stared at the spot his brother disappeared at, but then turned his attention to his father. "Please, father, tell me what is happening. Is it the Pazzi's that are behind this? There was a note for you at the pigeon coop. It said that..." Ezio was cut off by a loud noise from inside the room, and Giovanni jerked away from the window.

"Go, Ezio!" His father urged. "Go now!"

Ezio quickly looked over his shoulder, down at the base of the tower, and I figured we'd start our descent. But he just let go of the bars and fell! I was too terrified to scream, my voice lost somewhere in the wad in my throat. As we were free-falling, Ezio shifted us around so that I was on top of him. We landed in a heap of bouncy material that pricked and poked at my skin. A haystack.

The hysteria caught up with me then, and I couldn't catch my breath. I was choking for air with it all about me. Ezio clamped a hand over my mouth and pressed a free finger to his lips. As my heart stopped racing, Ezio peeked up through the hay. "_Avanti_," he whispered to me, dragging me up out of the hay. Swinging me up onto his back, we were suddenly descending down the side of the building, bits of hay falling off of us.

"How did we just survive that?" I asked, head still spinning from the fall.

"Federico and I have been doing it for years," Ezio explained as he dropped to the ground. Without another word, he took off down the streets, back to the Villa. As Ezio ran, I looked down at the necklace in my palm—a small, round pendant with the Auditore crest etched into it, lined with gold metal to enunciate the pattern. My heart swelled at the thought of Federico having it for nearly all his life, and, with the bumpy loll of Ezio's run, I managed to clasp the necklace around my neck so the pendant hung at my collar.

It didn't take us long to get to the house, Ezio dropping me off of his back once the front door came into view. Giving each other a glance, we nodded to each other and walked into the building. The villa had lost it's luster without the family being inside—everything was dark, quiet, and lonely. I had to take a moment to gaze around the room and wonder just how it had came to this. Why had it happened? Why now?

Ezio moved into his father's study, and I quickly followed behind, feeling like if he were to suddenly disappear too, I would be lost. Ezio looked around the office, his hands skimming over the desk as if looking for some kind of document.

"What did your father mean," I began to ask as he shuffled around the desk, "when he said 'to use your talent'?"

Ezio's golden eyes shot up to me, something flashing in them. But he didn't elaborate. We stared at each other for a long time. "You won't believe me," he muttered, lowering his gaze back to the desk.

I frowned, folding my arms. "I might surprise you."

Sighing, Ezio looked back up at me. "When I was a child, I had a nightmare that everything was dark, and all I could see was this glow of red all around me. I woke up screaming with my father beside me and all that I could see of him was a bright blue glow. I'd been so scared. My father told me that I had a talent—a gift—that was extremely rare. He calls it Eagle Vision."

Something in the back of my mind flickered, a light momentarily shining in the darkness. But it slipped away, and I had to shake my head to focus back to Ezio. "What does it do, exactly?"

"It allows me to see things differently than others. It allows me to see who is my ally and who is my enemy."

"And you just slip into this state randomly?"

Ezio shook his head. "When I was younger, yes, but I've learned to control it better now."

My head spun again, and I reached up to rub at my temple. "I...I think I've heard of something like that before."

He seemed skeptical of that. Then his golden eyes flashed, a flicker shining in his eyes, and then he was gazing around the room, his eyes searching over the array of things filling the room, tossed about and broken from the guards. He lifted a hand and pointed to the fireplace. "There," was all he said.

I turned and gazed at the glowing hearth, wondering how there could be a door there. Ezio walked up to it, pressing his hands against the outside of the fireplace. Finally, one of the decorative stones beneath his touch shifted under his press. A loud noise shattered the silence, stone scraping heavily against stone. To my utter shock, the fireplace shifted, and then began to move downwards, revealing an open room.

"Amazing," I breathed as the stone settled below.

Ezio, who had been surprised when the hearth had started moving as well, simply ducked down through the opening and entered the hidden area. I followed in suite, finding myself in a dimly lit room with several bookshelves and a desk in the corner. As Ezio made his way to the chest tucked near the desk, I wandered over to the shelves and looked at all of the books, noticing that most of them were untitled, leather bound books, aged heavily and some falling out from their ties.

The chest squeaked as Ezio thrust it open, drawing my attention to him. For the longest moment, he simply stared in the chest, no emotion flitting across his face.

I toed over to him, gazing over his shoulder to peer into the chest. Inside was a white robe, adorned in red and and golden decoration. There was a belt that was the shape of some sort of thin claw, fringed with leaves carved into the metal. That shape was so familiar, so breathtaking, that I knew it had to have been tied to the assassins. Atop of the piling was a sword, glinting in the candle light, threatening and beautiful. Ezio finally moved, reaching into the chest to move the blade aside. He pulled out the robes, revealing more leather armor under it that was to go over the robes, a pair of leather boots stuffed in there as well. Ezio held up the cloth in the air, gazing over it. It was just about his size. Ezio's face had hardened while he looked over the cloth, hanging there in his hands.

He turned to me, holding out the robes. "Hold this," he muttered, and I complied, taking the heavy robes into my arms. Ezio unbuckled the belt from his waist, letting it drop as he tugged off his vest, leaving him in his dress shirt and slacks. When he reached back for the robe, I held it out to him. In the next moment, he was pulling on the robe, fitting it over his broad shoulders. He wrapped the red cloth around his waist, having me help clip on the familiar ornament around that, clipping it to belts that strapped around his waist. I helped him with the armor as well, aiding him in tying on the vambraces and grieves, a cape draping from his left pauldron, tightening straps and checking the hold of the armor and garments. I felt as though I were a mother readying her child to go out. It was strange. I knew it was all so much more serious than that.

Once the robe and armor were on straight, Ezio knelt back to the chest and pulled free the sword there at the bottom. He tucked it against his hip, in the low slung sheath there. I looked at him then, studying his full form. He _looked_ like an assassin. Though I hadn't seen any other in all of what I could remember, I knew the stance, the air that floated about them, and Ezio carried it. All but for one thing.

"Here," I murmured, reaching up over his shoulders and grabbing the hood that was hanging down his back. I pulled it up over his face, casting a shadow over those golden eyes. I stepped back, and felt myself quiver at the sight. Yes. I remembered this. The fear and gentled ire that floated about the form of an assassin and snuck about those around them.

Without a word, Ezio went back to the chest, grabbing the last of the contents inside. There was a broken contraption, the gnarled form of a battered vambrace, but nothing too special, and a letter. Ezio put the broken bracer in one of the pouches at his waist, while he clung to the letter.

"This." Ezio shook the letter in his hand. "We need to take it to Uberto." There was something detached about his tone, a daunting quality that snaked beneath the surface.

Nodding, I followed him back out of the house, closing the hidden door behind us before we left. As Ezio was pulling me onto his back, I glanced back at the villa and felt a prick of sadness. Then we were off, running down the streets, and scaling up the side of a building to try and avoid the guards.

The night had to be halfway over by the time we found Uberto Alberti's home. Ezio dropped down from a building and let me fall from his back. He was out of breath, tired from running so much and from carrying me the whole way. I felt bad, but couldn't bring myself to apologize. Reaching up to pull down his hood, Ezio quickly approached the door, and began to rapidly knock on the door. When no one answered at first, Ezio spat a curse under his breath and knocked again.

Finally, the door swung open, and a large man stood at the door, his beady eyes taking in Ezio's figure. "Ezio Auditore? What are you doing here at this hour?" The way the man seem so concerned was a little off, and my eyes narrowed warrily.

"It...I...I don't..." Ezio stuttered, struggling to find the words.

"Wait child," the man said, raising his hands to cut Ezio off. "Catch your breath and recollect your thoughts." Ezio took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Now tell me what's happened."

"My father has been taken to prison. The guards came by our house and took my brothers and him. He told me to bring these to you."

Ezio handed Uberto the letter, and the man opened it up, looking over the words. As Uberto was reading the letters, a man appeared behind him in the shadows of the house. I stared into the shadow of the figure, my stomach twisting uncomfortably as the man stopped and stared at Ezio and I. Fear shot through me, and I quickly ducked down behind Ezio, hiding from that gaze that I couldn't see, but could sure as hell feel.

"Ah," Uberto spoke quietly. "I see now."It's all a misunderstanding, Ezio."

"A misunderstanding?" Ezio's eyes were wide.

"Yes. These documents you have brought me contain evidence of a conspiracy against your family and against the city. I will present these at their hearing tomorrow."

"_Grazie_, _Signore!_" Ezio said, relief clear in his voice. I peeked around him again, but the man in the shadows was gone, and I looked up at Uberto, who considered me for a slight moment.

"Do you two need a place to stay for the night? You are more than welcome to stay here."

No. I didn't want to sleep in the same house that that man might be in. Before I could voice my concern to Ezio, however, the Auditore declined. "No, _grazie_. You've already done so much for us." Ezio turned and looked down at me, taking a hold of my elbow. "We'll see you at the hearing tomorrow."

Uberto nodded. "Have no worries, Ezio. Everything is going to be alright." The man closed the door, and Ezio led me away from the tall building. After a few feet away, where I expected him to pull me onto his back, he instead turned to me. "Narina, I need you to go home."

Home? "What?" I breathed, my brow furrowing. "No."

"Listen, I'll come get you before I go to the hearing tomorrow. For now, I need you to go home."

I reached out and grabbed his arm, surprising myself when I noticed how thick it was under my grip. But I stuffed that surprise away and my brow furrowed. "What about you? Where are you going to go? Are you coming with me at least?"

Ezio shook his head. "I'm going to go over to Cristina's."

I threw his arm away in disgust. "You are such a pig!" I hissed. "The mess we're in now—All you can think of is sex?"

"What am I supposed to do?" Ezio shouted right back, our voices echoing off of the buildings. "Do you not realize that our family is wanted right now? If I go anywhere else, including going with you, then I'm going to be taken to jail along with my family. I never said a thing about sex."

"I...you...!" Huffing, I realized that I couldn't win this battle. "Fine. I'm sorry. But I'm not going to leave—not until this is straightened out."

Ezio huffed this time."How in the world Federico put up with you, I don't know."

"Federico isn't as pig-headed as you are," I reminded him.

Ezio shot me a glance. "You're not coming to Cristina's with me."

For a small moment, I panicked. Worrying at my lip, I spoke, "Then we'll have to compromise."

"No, we're not. Go home, Narina." He shook off my hand, turning and walking away.

The panic welled up again and I couldn't bite it back. Before I knew it, I had run after him, flinging myself at him, hugging his waist tightly. "Don't leave me," I begged, clamping my eyes shut tight. "Please. _Sono spaventato così, _(I'm so scared), Ezio!"

A long moment passed as we stood there, my arms tightening around him, afraid to let him go, afraid to lose this new life that I had found.

A pregnant pause stretched in the air before he sighed, his body relaxing beneath my arms. "Fine," he grunted. "We'll figure something out. I can go talk to Cristina after everything settles down." He shifted about, squirming out from my arms as I bowed my head away. When Ezio turned back and looked over me, he pursed his lips and took a hold of me around my shoulder, corralling me in beside him as he walked with fast pace.

"Where will we go?" I wondered aloud as we walked down an alleyway.

Ezio shrugged. "I don't know. We'll find something."

I lowered my eyes, but I was glad for his company. He led me down many alleyways before he scooped me up and hauled us up the side of a building that had a lower, flat room. There, he pulled off his pouches and tried to make an acceptable pillow out of them. He had me lie down first, finding my comfortable spot before he lied down beside me, his back against mine.

We lied there for a time, listening to the city, the wind. The winter chill got to me, and I ended up quivering like a leaf, leaning back against Ezio to try and steal some of his warmth.

"Are you sure we can't go back to your home?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Yes," Ezio answered. "The guards are probably crawling all over the place—we will not be able to get inside, and even if we did, it would be too dangerous."

Sighing, I brought my knees up to try and preserve some warmth. Ezio finally sat up and undid all of his armor and straps, pulling off the robe so that he could drape it over the two of us. Thanking him under my breath, I snuggled into the robe, my hand reaching up and grasping the necklace, and I was soon fast asleep.

* * *

I woke with a start. When I shot up, the morning light cutting through the thin clouds, Ezio was pulling his robe back on, tightening and strapping on the armor.

"When does the trial start?" I asked, the air of late morning hitting my senses.

"Soon. We cannot stay here." He finished his dressing, pulling on the hood, and I stood up, brushing the dirt off of me. My back cried out in protest, sore from laying on a hard roof all night.

In the next moment, I was perched up on Ezio's back, and he was jumping across the rooftops.

When we reached the front of the prison, a large crowd had gathered, standing in front of a giant platform were the three Auditore's stood, their hands tied behind their back, their heads hung down. I frowned. Something wasn't right. I followed Ezio through the crow until we were near the middle, close enough to see the faces of the men on stage. Uberto was up there as well, pacing the front of the platform. Three other men walked up onto the platform, and to my horror, they put nooses around the Auditore's necks.

"What are they doing?" I asked in a breath, the last bits of it robbed from me, something roiling in my gut as I watched.

"Giovanni Auditore!" Uberto suddenly cried out. "You and your accomplices have been accused of treason against the city! Have you any evidence to prove your innocence?"

"Yes!" Giovanni shouted, struggling against his binds, panic and anger flashing in his eyes. "The documents that were delivered to you last night!"

Uberto paused, staring at Giovanni for the longest moment. No. Ignoring Ezio's questions, I began pushing through the crowd, my teeth gritting in anger. I was going to _kill_ that fat bastard! "I know naught of these documents you speak of!"

Ezio's voice reached me from behind. "He's lying!" Ezio accused, but no one seemed to hear, or even if they did, they didn't care.

"In the absence of any compelling evidence," Uberto continued loudly, sweeping a hand towards the Auditore's, "I am bound to pronounce you guilty, and you and your collaborators are hereby sentenced to _death_."

"You are a traitor, Uberto, and one of _them!_" Giovanni cried out.

"No!" I called out, breaking through the front of the crowd. The guards at the ends of the platform began to move towards me. I gripped onto the edge, staring up at Federico and Petruccio while Giovanni continued to yell about revenge and truth. "Federico! I'm here!" I cried out, feeling the tears stream down my face, though I felt the heat of rage more than anything else. In response, Federico's face filled with shock, while Petruccio, seeing my tears, started to weep as well.

The guard who had been closer was gripping at my arms, trying to pull me away, but I yanked away from their hold and whacked my fist into the man's face. He stumbled back, clutching at his nose. My own fingers were stinging in pain, my thumb screaming. Diverting my attention back to Federico, he looked so scared, so sad.

"Narina, run!" he told me, the desperation clear in his voice. "Run fast and don't look back!"

"No!" I argued back. "Not without you!"  
Federico shook his head, struggling against his binds. The "n" of my name appeared on his lips, but then the floor dropped beneath him. I watched the terror fill his face. I heard the snap of his neck. And I watched as his eyes misted over.

And he was gone.

A crushing weight was suddenly pressing down upon me. My body was trembling violently as I stared into those once vibrant eyes, feeling something far worse than nausea sweeping over me. For a moment, my mind flashed, and I was standing in the rain, staring at a swinging figure before me, dark hair matted against his forehead. I was covered in blood, blood of the people that were slaughtered around me. And anger gripped my heart, driving the beats; but as that anger cooled into a hard lump, I was overwhelmed with a sense of loss. My whole world was hanging by that rope.

And it was flitting away to someplace that I could never follow.

* * *

**Um. Wow. **

**I guess I write faster when I'm doing a re-write. I might be because I can look back at my before-chapter and go "Hey, that's a good idea!" instead of having to go look at walkthroughs on Youtube.**

**I think I'm actually going to go into detail about this "mysterious hanging man" that Narina constantly sees throughout this story. I didn't explain in the last version, but I will in this one. Maybe with Tamair somehow, when he comes around. And, I'm pleased to say, that there will be much differences with the Tamair situation, so that's something to be excited about! :D**

**Sorry to sound so happy when I just wrote about Federico being killed. At least you all knew it was coming..**

**P.S. I'm totally going to marry Lee Baker. Just saying. (Or just meet him. That could work just fine).**

**Thanks for the read.  
AND REVIEW! :) I am a friendly person! :D**

**A big thanks to Wing-Mate for looking this beast over!**


	7. Settling the Score

**So! Another chapter done!**

**-As I guessed before, College has totally hit me these past few weeks. Midterms are coming up, which is weird... but still true.**

**-I have to work an Easton Corbin concert this Saturday. It's going to be fun! :3**

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
****xXTron'sGirl13Xx  
****sofarsogood99901  
****shippolove844  
****MaryandMerlin  
****catalinashepard  
****Kingdomonkey  
****silverauror**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Settling the Score**

* * *

Time returned to its normal pace all too quickly. The next thing I knew, the crowd was screaming and running away, guards filtering into the area. The one guard that I had punched was shouting something at me, his sword drawn. My legs had bolted themselves to the ground, and I simply watched the angry man approach me, lifting his sword into the air. Then Federico's words rang through my head: "_Run, Narina! Run fast, and don't look back!_" So I did. Twirling away from the man, and ran down the flooded street. I felt like I was being pursued by the mysterious men again, weaving through the shuffling crowd, pushing my way through. My only thought was to get away, to get as far as possible from the terror and pain.

I don't think I had ever ran so hard, so desperately, even when my life had depended on it. Although I was sure none of the guards were chasing me, I continued to flee, dodging through the crowds. I'm not sure how long I was running, but the only reason I slowed to a stop in a narrow alleyway was because my lungs were on fire and my legs gave out under me, and I found myself sitting on the dirty ground. It was then that I realized that I wasn't trying to run from the guards—I was trying to run away from the darkening horizon, from the horror and from the death. I was trying to run from reality.

But reality was faster than I was.

Curling up in the alleyway, staring up at the clear sky, feeling the cold air burn my lungs, I began to cry. Not just little tears; I mean sobbing and gasping, clenched fists and running nose. I didn't understand why it had turned out like it had. I didn't want to be alone. Just when the tears began to slow, it suddenly hit me that Giovanni, Petruccio, and Federico were dead. _Dead_. I would never see them again; never hear their comforting, familiar voices. And the tears started all over again, making it hard to breathe.

Even when the tears did stop—quite suddenly, as well, like my body had ran out of supply—I simply stayed curled up in my ball, staring up blankly at the wide sky, no thoughts going through my mind; my body was so numb that I could feel nothing.

I was all alone.

When my mind became clear enough to think, I actually considered just sitting there in my misery until I died. It felt like I didn't have a life without the Auditores. But, as I sniffed, rubbing at my eyes, I realized that sitting around wasn't any way to deal with the situation. Dying wouldn't make Federico any happier. Instead, I lifted the pendent from around my neck and stared at the crest, the design catching the sunlight and shining brightly. Thinking that Federico had touched the necklace most of his life, I pressed it to my lips, clamping my eyes shut as I mentally promised him that I would live. I would live as long as I was allowed.

* * *

It had to have been noon by the time I pushed myself up off of the ground. My mind was drowned in fog, so I couldn't really tell. I could have tried to go back to the Mancini's, but I had a feeling that they wouldn't accept me back. Though they had been friends with the Auditores, I didn't believe that they would think the Auditores innocent, especially if the city guard declared so otherwise. It was about that time that I really regretted not taking a legitimate tour of Florence with Federico before. I had no idea where I was.

So I wandered, blindly going forward. With every step I took, the more lost I felt. How much longer could I go before I gave up? I suppose I could try to find the answers myself, leave Florence and explore the rest of Italy. But I knew I couldn't do it alone. Especially when there were people out to get me.

I was in one of the main plazas, simply following the flow of the crowd, when suddenly, my arm was seized and I was pulled aside. Thinking it was one of the "people out to get me", I cried out, struggling against the hold.

"Narina, it's okay! It's me!" For a split moment, my hopes were built up when I thought of Federico. But all in the same moment, I realized that it was impossible. I looked up at Ezio, the white hood pulled over his face. "Are you okay?" he asked, pulling me further out of the crowd and into a shadow of a nearby building.

"Yeah," I muttered, but I shook my head. I felt the tears prick in my eyes, and I raised my arm to cover my eyes, biting my lip to stop a sudden sob.

Ezio took a hold of my arm, pulling it down as if to drag me back from my emotions. "We have to go. Annetta found me not too long ago and told me where we need to go."

The tears had disappeared, but the sadness stuck. I bowed my head, shaking it slowly. "No."

Ezio groaned out. "Why must you always argue? I promised Federico that I was going to keep you safe and I'm going to keep that promise. Now come!" He wasn't going to put up with my breakdown, tugging me along even when I tried to pull back. It made me realize that Ezio had suddenly taken all of the responsibility onto his own shoulders—he had to protect his family now, become the beacon of safety for those of us who were simply lost. How he held it all in, I'll never know. But I respected him for it.

He led me across the city, taking extreme caution considering that the guards were looking for him now, even more so than they had been the night before. I wasn't entirely sure where we were heading, but I found myself placing all of my trust in the Auditore that I had never really known—he wasn't so unlike the rest of his family.

"This is it," Ezio announced, stopping us. I looked up at the building, mesmerized by how elegant it looked. "This is Annetta's sister's _Bordella_."

Ezio stepped forward, towards the door, tugging me behind him. When he knocked on the door, it opened immediately. "_Ser_ Ezio! _Signorina_ Narina! You have both come safely!" Annetta greeted with a relieved smile. "Please, come in."

We followed her into the building, finding ourselves in a brightly lit room, everything in an elegant red, so many decorations lining the walls with golden sewing work. There were people lounged out on the couches, all men. I felt slightly uncomfortable when I realized that it was a brothel, even more so when Ezio's grip on my arm became suddenly tighter as he realized the same thing.

"I think we have the wrong place," Ezio muttered, making me look up at him curiously.

"No," Annetta said reassuringly, giving Ezio a look. "This is the right place."

As if her words were a cue, many courtesans came walking through a door at the back of the room, heading over to the men on the couches and giggling. I was glad that they had avoided us, but another woman approached us. She was different from the other girls, dressed differently, although not necessarily better. The woman must have been in her mid thirties, still young, but considered old for a courtesan. The red of her dress matched that of the décor, making me realize that she must have ran the brothel. Her dark hair was held back by a headdress of some sort, just as beautiful as she was.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, _Messer_ Ezio. Annetta has spoken quite highly of you." Her eyes raked up his body. "I can see why."

Come now, really? I caught myself making the same observation, but stopped and rolled my eyes instead. Ezio grinned back at the woman, bowing his head while reaching up and pulling off his hood. "The pleasure is all mine, _Madonna_...?" He trailed off.

"_Ti prego_," she insisted with a soft smile, "call me Paola."

"Thank you for allowing my family to stay in your home, Paola," Ezio said while he bowed.

"It is of no problem," she said back, then turned her gaze to me. "You must be Narina."

I was nearly shocked that she knew who I was. "Yes." I bowed. "A pleasure, Paola."

She gestured to the door she had came out of. "You must be tired. You are welcome to..."

"No, _grazie_," Ezio interrupted, "but I cannot stay."

Paola wasn't surprised by Ezio's statement. "Why? Where are you going?"

Ezio's eyes darkened as he turned from the woman, looking over the room. "To kill Uberto Alberti."

"I understand your desire for vengeance, but the _Gonfaloniere_ is a powerful man." Paola paused, reaching out to touch Ezio's shoulder. "You are not a killer, Ezio," she reminded him softly.

Ezio waved a hand angrily in the air. "Spare me the lecture," he spat.

Paola inclined her head. "But I can teach you to be one."

With a gaze back to her, Ezio seemed skeptical. "And why are you going to teach me how to kill?" It did seem a little absurd, but there was something eerily familiar about Paola. I wondered idly if she, too, had connections with the assassins.

"I'm not," she answered, smiling again. "I'm going to teach you how to survive. Come." She walked by Ezio to the back door, turning to gaze at him. Ezio sighed and took a step after her, obviously deciding he had no other choice. I considered staying in the building, but, judging on the way the courtesans were sitting on the mens' laps, I didn't want to stay any longer than I had to. I quickly followed after Paola and Ezio through a set of doors before we were outside again, under a large patio roof where many courtesans stood in groups and giggled.

"In my profession," Paola explained, "discretion is paramount. We must freely walk the streets; seen, but unseen. You, too, need to learn how to blend in with the city's crowds, to become lost in a sea of faces." Ezio was nodding, understanding what she was trying to explain. Paola nodded to a group of courtesans who them swarmed around Ezio, touching him and giggling under their breaths, making Ezio look like he was the happiest person in the world. I had to roll my eyes again.

"Let's see how well you do," Paola said loudly, to cut through all of the courtesan's giggles and beckoning words. Prying himself through the small crowd around him, Ezio shot me a look, raising his brows. I just shook my head at him, showing him I wasn't entirely impressed with what he had picked up. We followed after Paola, who stood at the back entry way of the patio, the entrance that led back to the streets. "I want you two to go through the crowds and see how well you can hide. Go around the plaza and come back."

I frowned. _Even me_? Why did I have to get dragged into it all? But as Ezio pulled his hood back on and took a step out into the streets, I realized that I wanted to follow him anyway, instead of stay with a bunch of giggling women.

It was a very intimidating game that we were playing—there were guards _everywhere_ in the plaza. Ezio had to be extremely careful, for his white hood was on the look out. I wasn't entirely sure why _I_ needed to hide, for I was certain my face wasn't known. But if Ezio was going to take me with him, I guessed it was a skill I needed to learn. Once we safely got back to the _Bordella_, Paola nodded a congratulations to us.

"I will teach you how to steal, now," Paola started, and I frowned in response. I found it a little odd that we were suddenly throwing all of our values out the window, but then again, desperate times call for desperate measures. "Ezio, once you steal, you mustn't linger! Use your new blending techniques to slip away without any suspicion." She waved an arm out to the street. "Now go. Bring me back your purse full of money."

Ezio bounded off, eager to prove himself.

Paola looked over to me, and I glanced back. She looked quite sad all of a sudden. "I am terribly sorry for all the pain that has been caused."

Surprised, I looked away. "Oh. It's...it's not your fault." I reached up and fiddled with the necklace.

"My girls have told me you and the eldest brother spent much time together," Paola mentioned softly. "I know it is hard. I've lost something precious as well."

Suddenly being able to relate to her, I looked up at her as she reached out and took a hold of my shoulder, comfortably squeezing it. "Did you know the Auditores?" I wondered.

"_Si_. Giovanni was an associate of mine." At first I was shocked to think that Giovanni would go to a brothel, but then I remembered.

"Oh. So, you're an assassin, too."

A dark look overcame her face as she shot a suspicious look at me. Her hand dropped "How do you know of the Creed?"

Creed? That was new. I decided not to ask about it. I told her about how Ezio and Federico had found me a month ago, how I had forgotten everything. I explained to her how I had just randomly known that Giovanni was an assassin, how I must have had contact with the Creed before I lost my memory. By the time I was done telling her,the dark look had been replaced by her soft smile, and she nodding understandingly.

Ezio came back, then, with his big purse swelled with florins, a boyish grin spread on his face.

"Well done, Ezio," Paola praised, pushing aside our conversation. "Girls," she spoke to the courtesans, "you may leave now."

"Aw, do we _have_ to?" One of the whined, and the others all giggled. But they slowly filtered away, waving goodbye to Ezio who smirked broadly back at them.

"Now that you have learned how to approach your enemy openly," Paola mused, bringing Ezio's eyes from the backsides of the leaving courtesans, "we need to find you a weapon."

Ezio lifted a brow. "And what would you have me use?"

I was about to suggest the sword he had the night before, but I realized then, too late, that it was gone. He must have lost it back in the plaza before.

"Ah, but I think you already have the answer," Paola mused, holding up a contraption—the same broken contraption that had come from Giovanni's chest back at the villa.

Ezio, shocked, reached back to touch his empty pouch, then grabbed for the object in Paola's hands. "My father's blade and bracer! How did you get these?"

Paola laughed, clearly amused. "By the same skills I just taught you."

Ezio frowned, looking over the broken vambrace. "It's not exactly in working condition."

"Have you heard of a man name Leonardo Da Vinci?" The name made me softly smile, remembering how excited the painter had been about...well, everything.

"_Si_," Ezio mused, looking up at Paola. "But where does a painter come into the picture?" Ezio's tone made my smile falter into a frown. He was just so anal about Leonardo being an artist. I supposed that fine things like art ceased to impress Ezio.

"You will find that he does much more than paint," Paola claimed, her smile widening. "Take these pieces to him, and you will see."

Nodding, Ezio put the blade and bracer back into his pouch, turning to look back at me. "You're coming too, right?" I nodded eagerly. I wanted to get out of the patio that smelled overbearingly of perfume, and I wanted to see Leonardo again. "We will be back," Ezio said to Paola, nodding to her.

"Remember: stay hidden," she said to us as we turned to leave out the back of the patio.

We were down the street a little ways, hiding in the crowds, before I glanced up at Ezio. "Do you remember where his shop is? I've completely forgotten."

Ezio looked down at me, my short height giving me a full view of his golden eyes beneath his hood. "I think I can find it. We should be fine."

* * *

We wandered around for two hours. For the life of us, we could not remember where the artist's studio was. Finally, after hiding from a patrolling group of guards, Ezio pointed across the street. "There it is!" He breathed in relief, yet I could tell that he was annoyed that we had circled the building at least three times before. After checking to see if we were in the clear, Ezio led me across the street. Ducking into the shadow of the door, he knocked loudly on it and we waited, hoping and praying that Leonardo would be home.

The door swung open. For a drawn out moment, we simply stared back into the surprised eyes of Leonardo, who regarded us quietly. "Oh! Ezio Auditore? What are you doing here? With all that has happened, I didn't expect to..." He trailed off, his mouth twisting shut. "Where are my manners? Please, come in!" He belatedly waved us in.

Inside of the shop was very cluttered, books and unfinished sketches scattered about the table tops. Boxes of paint supplies were shoved in the corners, easels with paint stained on them perched in front of the hearth. In the far back of the room was a large worktable that was covered in piles of documents, scrolls, brushes. Leonardo lived very...comfortably.

"I apologize for the mess," Leonardo muttered, trying to tidy his desk by moving stacks of paper around. "Now, what can I do for you?"

Ezio pulled out the broken bracer. "I was wondering if you could fix this for me?"

Leonardo's face lit up. "Of course! Of course! Please, bring it here!" Ezio stepped forward, holding out the two pieces to the vambrace. Leonardo took them and placed them down on the clear space on the table, looking down at the engraved metal with his eyes dancing. As he studied the contraption, I allowed my gaze to drop around the shop. There was an easel with a beautiful picture upon it. Although it was still a piece in progress, I could see that Leonardo really did have amazing talent.

Leonardo hummed loudly under his breath, making me look back at him. "I don't know, Ezio. Although the mechanism is very old, it is quite complex. The construction is rather advanced." Without the original plans, I'm afraid I cannot fix this. _Mi dispiace._"

Ezio heaved a sight, reaching out to take the blade. We'd just have to get by without it.

"Wait!" Leonardo suddenly grabbed for the vambrace, yanking it away from Ezio's touch. Upon Leonardo yanking away the engraved metal, it revealed a small scroll that had been tucked away inside. Immediately, Leonardo opened up the scroll and pressed his nose into it.

"What are you doing?" Ezio asked desperately. "What is that?"

"The contents of this page are encrypted!" the artist claimed, his eyes focused on the pictures and words on the scroll. "But, if my theory is correct, and based on these sketches...it may very well be..." He trailed off, reaching across the desk to pull out a book that spilled other books and papers off of the desk, but he didn't seem to notice.

"It may very well be what?" Ezio asked again, his voice rising. "Leonardo!"

"Shh," Leonardo insisted, waving over the desk. "Have a seat, please."

I couldn't help but smile and laugh at Leonardo's determinacy. Once he was set on something, he was going to get it done sooner or later. He was very passionate about his work. Ezio, huffing and not finding Leonardo's insistence as endearing as I had, sat down in the chair that Leonardo had gestured to. I walked and stood next to him, watching as Leonardo began to frantically scribble on a piece of paper, sketching a few things out.

I glanced down at Ezio. "You look tired," I pointed out.

His lips pursed. "I am."

"Did you not get any sleep last night?"

"Not really. I had to be alert just in case we were followed by the guards at any turn."

"Oh." I felt bad. If it hadn't been for me, he could have slept soundly in Cristina's arms, safe and sound.

"Not to mention, sleeping on solid rock isn't exactly comfortable." He closed his eyes, folding his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I looked back over to Leonardo who was messing with the vambrace with a small tool, prodding at the metal as if to try and pinch something out. Sighing, I walked over to the large shelves and began to scour over the titles, seeing most of them were history books. Some of them were in strange languages, and I wondered idly if Leonardo could speak in different tongues. I had wandered across the workshop to the other shelves when Leonardo spoke.  
"I was wondering if..." He stopped, and I looked over to him, ready to answer his question. He was looking at Ezio, whose head was bowed down, hood lowered. Fast asleep. Leonardo chuckled. "Ah. He was tired."

"Yes," I said with a small smile, finding the humor in Ezio falling asleep in a hard chair after just complaining about the night before.

"I suppose he has had a very rough day," Leonardo continued, looking back at the scroll. His gray-blue eyes peered up at me. "You have too, no? Do you wish a place to sleep as well?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine," I insisted, making my way back over to the work table. "I...just...I'm fine."

"Of course." Leonardo turned his full attention back to the vambrace, obviously seeing the discomfort as my thoughts turned to what had happened earlier in the day.

I swallowed. "So, what are you doing, exactly?"

He held up a finger as if to shush me just as he had Ezio before. Realizing that he wasn't going to tell me, I sighed and leaned back against the desk, staring down at the toes of my slippers. Soon after, Leonardo spread out the deciphered scroll and began to really work with the broken blade, taking it apart as he studied the inner workings of the mechanism. I found myself watching him over my shoulder, finding it interesting how Leonardo knew how to fix the blade by just a few pictures and words. It must have only taken him about two and a half hours connecting the blade and vambrace back together with a satisfied smirk on his lips.

"Finished!" He announced, holding it out to show me.

"Impressive," I noted with a small smile. "You should do so much more with this knowledge of yours, Leonardo! Art is nice and everything, but just imagine the things you could come up with!"

The artist rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Thank you, Narina. You are much too kind." He bend over to reach into a drawer at the table, and I nearly choked on my own gasp when he pulled out a huge butcher knife. With the sharp blade in hand, he calmly walked around the table and shook Ezio awake.

"Ezio! It is finished!"

Ezio slowly came to, shaking his head as he blinked through his haze. "What's finished?"

"The blade," Leonardo said, standing straight and holding out the vambrace. "Once I deciphered the plans, they told me exactly what to do." When Ezio went to grab for the blade, Leonardo held it away, holding up the knife. "Now all we have to do is cut off your ring finger."

"What?" Both Ezio and I exclaimed. Ezio had clenched his left hand, his knuckles white.

"The design of the blade requires that the user make a sort of commitment," Leonardo explained calmly, deadly serious. "The blade takes the place of your finger, see?"

Ezio passed me a look, and we spoke to each other through our gaze. We needed the blade, but was dismemberment really necessary? Couldn't we just have the blacksmith forge us a sword? But no, that would be too risky. And take too much time.

Finally, Ezio sighed, his hand unclenching as he singled out his ring finger, the one he was supposed to give to his wife someday. Then he placed it flat on the table surface, turning his face away. "_Bene_. Take it off."

Leonardo held up the knife, making my stomach twist. "This will only hurt a bit." I suddenly felt the need to jump forward, to save Ezio's beautiful hands. There had to be another way! But before I could lurch forward, Leonardo brought the knife down, a deadly thunk resonating throughout the room. I stood still, breathless and shocked.

Ezio looked up quickly. The blade was notched into the table just next to Ezio's hand.

"I was only having fun, Ezio," Leonardo said with a wide grin. "Although the blade once required a sacrifice, it has been modified." Leonardo put the vambrace into Ezio's hands. "You can keep your finger."

When Leonardo moved away, I reached out to Ezio and gripped onto his shoulder, my heart pounding within me. "Oh my God," I muttered, trying to calm myself. "I thought he was going to actually do it."

After clasping on the vambrace, Ezio looked at his left hand, lifting it in the air to study it. With a flick of his wrist, the blade popped out of place, stabbing up into the air. It would have indeed taken the place of the ring finger had the blade not been moved out further. "A small sacrifice," he whispered, making me feel a wave of sadness at his disregard to what that finger stood for. He looked up. "Thank you, Leonardo. I—."

There were suddenly loud knocks on the door, shouts filtering in through the wood. "By the order of the Florentine guard, open up the door!"

With my heart once again lodged into my throat, I looked up at Ezio who reflected my concerned look in his own.

"Eh, I'll be right there!" Leonardo turned to us, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Stay in here, alright?" He went to answer the door.

"Are you Leonardo Da Vinci?" The guard asked, trying to peer around Leonardo, making Ezio and I step closer to a wall that the man couldn't see us.

"Yes, that is me. What can I do for you?" Leonardo could put on an amazing mask, his happiness etched onto the facade so well.

"I need you to answer a few questions."

"Of course! Here, let us take a step outside." Leonardo disappeared out of the door, closing it softly.

Ezio seized my elbow, dragging me across the workshop. "_Venire_. We have to get out of here!"

"What about Leonardo?" I argued, glancing up at him. "He could be in danger—the guards probably don't visit him everyday!"

"Shh!" Ezio pulled on his white hood before we quietly inched through the door. The sun was well on its way down, the sky turning darker and darker by the minute. Perhaps we had spent more time in the shop than I had realized. We nearly ran off into the crowds until Ezio stopped me and made my attention divert to the small courtyard next to the shop. There, the guard and Leonardo were talking. The guard mentioned Ezio's name, and when Leonardo played the innocent card, the guard wasn't fooled. Angrily, the guard gripped at Leonardo's shirt and threw the man on the ground, kicking the artist in the side.

My stomach rolled violently, making my breath catch in my chest. I gripped onto Ezio's arm, gazing up at him with tears in my eyes. "Ezio, stop him!"

Ezio didn't need anymore than that. He was free from my hold and in the courtyard, pressing the hidden blade up into the guard's side. The unsuspecting man groaned quietly before slumping back against Ezio, dead.

Dead.

It hit me that Ezio had just killed someone.

And that I was completely okay with it.

Pushing the realization aside, I rushed up next to Leonardo who was sitting up. "Are you alright?" I whispered, worry thickening my voice as I felt another wave of tears. "Those bastards, doing this to you!"

Leonardo let me help him stand, and he waved off my concern. "I am fine. I am use to their abuses. They ask me many questions. I suppose I mingle with the wrong crowd." He smiled as if there was a hidden joke within his words.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Ezio said, throwing the dead man over his shoulder. "What do we do with the body?"

Leonardo dusted himself off. "Just bring it in and put it with the others."

"Others?" Ezio was genuinely confused, as was I.

"The city gives me the bodies so that I can conduct some research on the human body. One more shouldn't be a problem."

We all went back into the shop as Leonardo directed where Ezio should put the body. After it was all taken care of, Leonardo was all smiles again. "There. Like it never happened. As far as I am concerned, not a single guard came by to talk to me." I smiled too. I was beginning to like Leonardo a lot.

"Thank you for everything, friend," Ezio said with true gratitude shining in his golden eyes.

"Anytime, Ezio! And if you find any more encrypted pages like the one that was with the blade, bring them to me. I may be able to decipher them for you."

"Right." Ezio looked over at me. "We need to be back to Paola's now."

"Send her my regards."

* * *

We walked back into the brothel, Paola waiting for us just inside the front door. "You've returned," she greeted, pleased to see that we did not perish with the whole city after us. "I trust that Leonardo took care of the blade?"

Ezio held up his left hand, showing Paola how the blade worked.

"Impressive," she claimed, peering at the blade.

It retracted back into place, and Ezio smiled. "I'm quite fond of it myself."

"So you are ready to take your next move, yes?" Ezio nodded eagerly, dropping his hand. "Uberto will be attending an art exhibit this evening at the Santa Croce. Use the skills that I have taught you and you will be able to end his reign of terror." With that, Paola reached out and hugged Ezio, reminding me of how a mother would comfort her son. "My girls will be able to help you into the exhibit," she continued, backing away from Ezio to stare up at him. "Use them to distract the guards. And Narina." She turned to me, surprising me that I was to be a part of all of this. As much as I wanted to kill that fat bastard for what he had done, I knew that I was not skilled enough to kill him. "You will help as well."

"How?" I wondered, my brow furrowing. "I'm not exactly fight-worthy."

She smiled at me, turning and walking to the other side of the room, reaching into a box that was placed in the lower shelf of a table. Opening up the box, she pulled out a round object. She returned back to us, handing me the orb. "You will use this."

I looked it over, confusion washing over me. "What is it, exactly?" I asked, rolling the object in my hands.

Her hand placed on top of it, stopping the rolling. "It's a smoke bomb," she explained. "Throw it down to create a large cloud of smoke so that Ezio may escape with more ease after the assassination."

My lips pursed. "How does it work?"

"You just throw it at the ground. It will erupt in smoke. You will see."

With that, Paola ushered us out the door, telling us that if we waited around, we would miss our opportunity. With Ezio taking a hold of my elbow, we began to weave through the crowds. Ezio knew where the Santa Croce was, for we were there in record time. By the time we stopped in an alleyway, the sky had grown dark. Dark was very good—it would look upon us quite favorably. However, when Ezio pointed across the plaza to a building, and I realized that it was the Santa Croce building. And it was heavily guarded. I felt a pout grace my face. It would seem that Uberto was expecting us to show up.

"There's no way we can get inside," I told Ezio, throwing him a side glance. "We'll be slaughtered before we even reach the entrance."

Ezio didn't answer, simply letting his gaze fall over the crowd. "Then we will use our resources. We'll use Paola's women."

Frowning, I huffed under my breath. "Is that really necessary? I don't see why we need whores to finish this."

Ezio threw me an annoyed look. "They're not being whores right now. They're our ticket inside."

I grew defensive, something strange since I had been so used to Federico always adjusting to my whims. Ezio just brought out a whole new side to me. "There are other of plenty ways that we can distract the guards!"

"This way is safer," he muttered, turning and ending the argument. Gritting my teeth, I followed after him. We approached a group of the courtesans that were gathered in a corner. They looked up at Ezio and immediately approached us to help draw attention away. Ezio whispered his plan to them, gesturing to the guards that were at the entrance of the courtyard where the show was taking place. They nodded and held out their hands expectantly. Ezio gruffly reached into his filled purse and put a few gold coins into the awaiting hands. With their money, the girls all swarmed away and headed straight for the guards.

Watching as the women worked their wiles on the men, beckoning them to go see them, I realized that their methods were actually working. For some odd reason, I thought that the women would fail in their attempt to bring the men out of their duty. So much for depending on people with your life—especially lustful men. With that in thought, I couldn't help but glance over at Ezio, who missed my look and was dragging me towards the entrance.

Once inside, the sense of subtly doubled, and Ezio kept us hidden in the shadows, making our way around the courtyard. There were many easels just like the ones in Leonardo's shop, and perched upon them were beautiful works of art. I wish I could have stayed and enjoyed it more, but I knew that we were here for a much more serious matter.

Ezio stopped us abruptly, hiding us behind a large group of men clad in fancy red and blue robes. "There he is." I looked up to where he was looking. Sure enough, Uberto Alberti stood a mere thirty feet away, his back turned towards us as he talked with another man. A dark side of me reared its ugly head, and I felt the loathing form within me. That man needed to die. He needed to be tortured.

I expected that Ezio felt the same.

Without a word, he stepped forward through the crowds, pushing his way through. I could almost feel the anger emanating off of him, his hatred too much for one mere man to hold. The man that Uberto had been talking to glanced up over Uberto's shoulder, and gasped when his eyes landing on Ezio's approaching form.

"What is it?" Uberto asked, looking back as well. His form went rigid when he saw Ezio. "You...!" he started, but Ezio was quicker. The Auditore ran up to Uberto and grabbed him by the shoulder, flexing his hand so that the hidden blade stuck out. Then he began to stab him. Stab. Stab. Stab. So many times. Blood was everywhere. My hands were shaking. Ezio's rage was fueled into every one of those stabs.

Finally, Ezio let the man drop to his feet, soaking in a pool of blood. Seeing the fat man laying on the ground gave me some small form of comfort. But I knew the battle wasn't over yet. Not for a long time.

Ezio turned in his fury, gazing at all the shocked on lookers. "The Auditores are not dead!" He screamed out, his voice echoing off of the building. "I am still here! Me! Ezio Auditore!"

That was enough. As he was declaring his power, I took a good note on the guards entering the courtyard, streaming in one after the other. I still had the smoke bomb in my hand, and I decided to put it to good use. Heaving my arm up, I threw the orb down with all of my might, clamping a hand over my face so that I would not choke on the fumes. Funny thing, though—it didn't work. I found myself staring down at the orb rolling on the stone.

"This is a fucking joke!" I growled, and by that time the guards were surrounding us, prepared to kill us on the spot. Ezio was quicker. Tucking me under his arm, he somehow managed to maneuver us through the crowds that were fleeing the area, running through the streets. As we ran, I dared a look behind us to see that the guards were close on our heels, weapons drawn and poised to kill.

I turned back to Ezio, the panic sweeping over me. "We're never going to make it."

"Yes, we will!" He argued, glaring down at me.

"They are going to catch us!" I exclaimed, already feeling tired.

"Why do you argue?" Ezio heaved, his brow furrowed. "We don't have time to come up with a plan, so go!" He shoved me away from him, but I still kept up with the pace of our run. I looked up to him for a long moment, up into that hood that seemed to make him a completely different person.

"Where do I go?" I asked him.

"Just run until you're safe!"

I hit me, then, that I would never be safe. "I'm scared!"

"Me too," he admitted, but continued giving me the hard look. Then he turned and bolted down an alleyway, making me cry out in surprise as I slowed. I needed to follow him. I had to.

But no. The bulk of the guards went after him, but much to my dismay, a few came after me. Shrieking, I fled as fast as I could. Since I was so small, I was able to weave through the crowds with ease, buying me some time since I wasn't a great runner. The guards had problems getting through the flow of the crowd, and I was finally able to break their line of sight. I stumbled into a small crevice hidden between a building and small wall that lined the edge of the Arno river. And I sat there, listening to the beat of my heart, quieting my heaving breathes.

As I crouched there, defenseless and on my own, I began to realize just what I was getting myself into. And I knew there was no way out of it now.

* * *

**Reviews have been slow lately. :C AND IT MAKES ME SAD! :(**

**So please review? Please? :3**

**Promise there'll be more EzioxNarina development in the next chapter. But shit is going to be a lot different this time through. Just you wait and see.**

**Oh, and do please take the time to go read "The View From Up Here" by xXTron'sGirl13Xx. That story is like my cute little niece that I can't help but show off to other people. It's so beautiful! And as I mentioned before, it is the continuation of this story, so things are going to be all meshed together and whatnot!**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	8. The Slaughtering

**-Jeeesus. College tests are hard. I haven't gotten higher than a C on any of them! :/**

**-Guess what? Get to meet Easton Corbin today. If any of you are fans of him, I am totally rubbing this in your face. X3**

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* * *

_"I don't know what it was that made a piece of him die._

_Took a boy to the forest, **slaughtered** him with a scythe._

_Stamped on his face, an impression in the dirt._

_Do you think the silence makes a good man convert?"_

_-"Don't Go" by Bring Me The Horizon_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**The Slaughtering**

* * *

Darkness had fallen. By the time I stumbled out of my hiding spot, I had to use the dim street candles to make my way through the streets. On my way back to Paola's, I ended up passing the Auditore villa on my way. It made me very sad. Just my luck, too, that a guard posted there spotted me and, since my face was now known, he started to chase me. Ducking through the crowds, I ran until it was safe to make my way over to where the brothel was—near the Duomo, I believe.

My manners were spent, and I barged into the building. I stopped in the entry way, letting the door slam. Paola was standing across the room, seemingly waiting for me.

"You've made it here safely—good." She smiled at me softly.

"Did Ezio make it back as well?"

"Yes, he is in the back room talking with his family." She stepped aside from the door she was at and gestured to it. "I believe he wanted to talk with you, but perhaps you should wait a moment. He is speaking with his mother and sister about Giovanni and his sons."

A lump appeared in my throat, so I nodded. Instead of walking back to the room, I went over and sat on the vacant couches, not even finding enough of myself to be upset that people had probably had sex on it. For the longest time, I sat there, lost in thought, although realizing that I wasn't really thinking of anything. The numb feeling from before had come back and I stared at my fingertips blankly.

Then I was angry.

Why hadn't seeing Uberto in a pool of his own blood quelled my anger? Why wasn't my retribution spent? I felt like I needed to rip something apart. It was so unfair.

Closing my hand into a fist, I stood from the couch and made a move towards the front door, suddenly wanting to run away from everything.

Before I could make my escape, Ezio came walking through the back door, his hood lowered against his shoulders. He looked up at me. "Narina, you're back." I stopped and stared at him. Did he feel the same way I did? "Are you okay?" He asked as he walked up to me, looking me over.

I looked down at my dirty dress, the skirt hem stained with dirt. "I'm fine," I murmured.

He accepted that. "My family and I are leaving Florence," he told me bluntly. "My uncle has a place over in Monteriggioni, and we leave tomorrow."

"Oh." Then I guess this was it. Uberto was dead, Federico's death avenged. But I wasn't satisfied. I knew it hadn't been Uberto's plan to kill the Auditores. There had to be more behind it all. And I wanted to know.

Ezio peered down at me for a moment, then turned away, walking to the door. Was he running away, too?

"I'm going with," I told Ezio as he placed his hand on the door knob, turning to face him fully.

His golden eyes flashed up. "I know."

Surprised, I stared at him for a long moment. "What, no arguing?"

"I'm starting to figure out that it's pointless to argue with you," he sighed, shaking his head. Then he smiled, something so bright in all of the darkness that had been pulled over everything. "In any case, Federico made me promise that I'd keep you safe. Even if Uberto is dead, you're wanted in Florence. Getting you out of here is what he would have wanted." He reached up to pull on his hood. "You also have your own enemies that we haven't seen for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if they have been watching us and will try to take advantage of our poor state."

I nodded. "Where are you going now?"

"To take down some wanted posters, try and bring the notoriety down a little before we leave." His chin inclined. "Then I think I'm going to visit Cristina before we leave the city."

"Right." I couldn't chastise him for tonight, sex or not. "Be careful."

"I always am. See you in the morning." He left, the door closing quietly behind him.

A few minutes passed were I simply stared at the wooden door, letting my mind wander to just what was going to happen. Florence was no longer a home for me. My world was upside down. Despite it being devastating, it was the perfect opportunity to try and find out the answers that I knew were waiting out in the world.

When asked, Paola led me to a room and found me a spare dress to wear while she had mine cleaned. Snuggling down between the sheets and blankets, feeling extremely weary, I clamped my eyes shut and let all of my emotions out. Hot tears pooled in my lashes, dripping down the side of my face and onto the pillow. Just because everything was going to be okay, that didn't make what had happened any better.

* * *

Ezio woke me up the next morning. Not by shaking me awake, or calling my name. No. If only.

Instead, it was by his name being screamed, the voice coming from the room next to mine. It wasn't even dawn yet, and at first, I wasn't too mad. But then I realized that he was sleeping with the courtesans when he was involved with Cristina. Disgusted by his wantonness, I started pounding my fist on the wall to try and shut them up. It didn't work, of course, so when dawn _did_ come, I was rather peeved.

After getting dressed in my clean clothes, I walked out to the front room. He was there in the middle of a group of girls, his grin lopsided as he whispered to all of them.

I glared at him until he noticed. "Good morning, Narina," he greeted, smile widening.

Ignoring his nice words, I turned away and collapsed on the couch, heaving out a heavy breath. Ezio was a man-whore. Go figure. Why did it not surprise me that much? Maybe because he was extremely attractive and could pull it off. His family did seem very talented with the compliments and weaseling their way into women's hearts. Saddening myself with the unfriendly reminder, I leaned over and put my head in my hand, the other reaching up to grasp at the necklace around my neck.

Ezio had left the girls and walked over to me.

"You seem upset."

I shot him a glare. "Oh, you're _so_ observant, Ezio."

His brow furrowed. "What is wrong with you this morning?"

"What is wrong with _me_?" I snapped, my hands dropping.

Ezio tilted his head, a teasing smile appearing. "_Si_. You seem rather...uptight."

I blurted out a swear, flailing my hands in the air before I buried my face in them. "_Men_!" I growled out, shaking my head.

Before Ezio could question me further, his mother and Claudia came through the back door, the mother and daughter holding onto each others arms tightly.

Ezio's attention went to them. "Are we ready to leave, then?"

"_Si_," Claudia mused with a nod. She looked terrible. It was very obvious that her night had been spent with her face buried in a pillow as her sorrows were poured out. Maria was still quite...frozen. No emotion whatsoever. It saddened me to think of how close she and Giovanni had been, how that love had been violently ripped from her. Standing up from the couch, I walked over to where Ezio was, pushing aside my anger at him for the moment. We had to work together now.

Paola walked through the door next, handing Claudia a pack of what I guessed was food for our trip. She then moved to Ezio, pulling him in for a hug before she kissed his cheek. "Be vigilant, Ezio! The road ahead is dangerous and very long indeed!"

"Thank you for everything, Paola," Ezio replied.

"If you are ever in _Firenze_ again, please stop by."

"I will."

With formal goodbyes, we all left the bordella and began to stalk down the streets. With the posters torn down and the skills that Paola had taught us, we were able to slip out of the city and start heading down the long road that winded out into the country side. As welcoming as that country side was, wide and open, I looked back at the tall buildings that peered over the walls surrounding the city. My whole life was in that city. Everything. Then I turned back, falling into step with Maria and Claudia as we followed Ezio down the dirt road.

"How could this happen to us?" Claudia asked in disbelief.

"I don't know," Ezio answered curtly.

"Will we ever be back?" The sister asked again, her worry rising high in her words.

"I don't know," Ezio said again, more gruffly than before.

"What about our house? What will happen to it?"

"I don't know!" Ezio shouted, turning and staring at his sister. Then he quickly sighed, apologized, and pinched the bridge of his nose. The whole conversation made an unbearable sadness come over me, and I bowed my head down to try and reign in the emotions.

"Were...they given a proper burial?" Claudia whispered, her arm tightening around her mother's.

I looked up at Claudia, then at Ezio, wondering the same thing as well. Would they have, considering they were traitors?

Ezio turned away, back to the road, his white hood bobbing. "Yes," he answered solemnly. "They were."

Conversation was limited on the walk. Florence disappeared behind us, the country side opening up to scarce trees and long fields. My feet were starting to hurt in my little slippers, positive that blisters were turning my pretty feet into a mess. Not to mention that it was freezing. Even if the sun was out, the air was so cold that it made the tip of my nose all red. My lips were dry and cracking. I felt miserable We stopped at mid-day, opening up the pack Paola had given us and eating a small meal.

As Claudia was helping her mother eat, I turned to Ezio, tilting my head at him. "What is the plan?" I asked him. "What are we going to do at your uncle's?"

He wiped his mouth, making me stare at the pink scar on his lip. "I plan to lay low there for a while. At least until I figure out what I should do."

A thought came to me. "Is this uncle your father's brother?"

"Yes."

I adverted my focus back onto the piece of bread I was eating, my fingers all red and cold. If this whole Assassin thing ran if the family, I wondered if this uncle was involved in it too, and if he was, would he tell Ezio about it all?

We finished out meal and continued our trek. Claudia took up to complaining about everything, which really irritated me and made me even more miserable. By the time the sun was going down, we still hadn't arrived at our destination, and I was ready to kill Claudia. What was worse was that my feet had been rubbed raw, all bruised and bloodied now. No one seemed to care, though; I wasn't about to ask if I could stop to take a break when so much was out to get us.

By the time we rounded a bend in the path around some trees and hills, a small little city appeared before us. I was limping by then, using the complaining Claudia to lean on as I hobbled along, and boy was I relieved to see the city. It had been too long of a day.

Before I could truly celebrate, however, a man blocked our path down the road before the city, and I groaned out when I realized that it was Vieri. How the hell did he get here?

"Ezio!" The dark haired man exclaimed as we walked closer. "How dare you leave _Firenze_ without saying goodbye!"

We were being surrounded. Men came from the trees, standing all around us. "Ezio!" Claudia gasped out, holding her mother closer as I huddled with them.

Ezio gazed at all of our enemies, then waved us to come closer to him. "What do you want, Vieri?"

"So many thing," the man hummed, taking a few steps closer. "A bigger _palazzo_...two new steeds would be grand." He looked over at me, his smirk widening. "And I'd rather like a prettier bride—perhaps I can take your brother's, seeing how he won't be around for her."

Anger bolted through me, and, forgetting about my sore feet, I let go of Claudia and made a move to go beat in Veiri's face. Ezio's arm stopped me, holding me back as he shot me a warning from the shadow of his hood.

"Oh, and yes," Vieri continued, seeming quite amused with my anger, pulling out his blade while staring at his reflection. "Your life."

The men around us all pulled out swords and edged closer to us. Ezio gave me a rough push back to Claudia and Maria as he extracted the hidden blade and prepared for battle. The men facing Ezio rushed forward, crying out their attack. I winced with every clang of metal there was. The guards closer to us raised their blades, and I immediately stood in front of the mother and daughter, not wanting them to perish in this messed up situation as well. But Claudia pushed by me, drilling her fist square into the man's face, who hadn't been expecting much of a fight. Surprised, I stood there, my mouth gaping open. Claudia knew how to fight, too?

A noise behind me distracted me, and I quickly turned to find a man with his blade raised high, ready to slice through me. I jumped away from the swing, barely dodging the sharp edge before I decided to try my hand in this whole fighting business too. Maybe it wasn't so hard. Holding my fist tight, I stepped forward and whacked it hard against the man's jaw.

Ouch.

It felt like my knuckles had shattered, and I wiggled my hand out as I gasped in pain. The man, however, did stumble back, crying out in surprise. Totally worth it.

But then the man was straight again, anger in his eyes. His blade raised again and I realize that he wasn't going to miss a second time. Before I could contemplate my death, however, Ezio knocked me aside, stepping in my place as he pushed through the man's stance, stabbing him in the chest. Blood soaked through the front of the man's tunic before Ezio shoved him away, the man flopping down on the ground. He looked at me then, his golden eyes peering down into mine.

"I grow tired of this game," Vieri announced, waving his hand in the air. "Kill them. And _don't_ spare the women—they are all tainted as it is anyway."

Ezio stood in front of me. "Don't be a hero," he growled at me, obviously not pleased he had to save my ass.

I pouted. "Same goes to you, idiot! We need you!"

"I'll be fine."

The argument was cut short, when all the men started to rush towards us. In the split moment, I was so scared, that I forgot about how angry I was with the world. I wanted to live. So I grasped at it, reaching forward and holding onto Ezio's arm. We were going to die.

Then all of the men charging us suddenly dropped to the ground, most of them crying out as if a great pain ailed them. What the hell...?

"What is this sorcery?" Vieri demanded, shouting to the trees.

There was a warm, boisterous laugh, making me glance around. What was going on? "Not sorcery, boy! It is skill!"

Vieri's jaw locked. "Show yourself!"

"Very well!" Vieri gasped when his sword was knocked out of his hands, flying through the air and landing in the dust. More men surrounded us, but they were different than the others. They looked almost full of glee instead of threats. I let go of Ezio's arm, feeling more secure. These were our allies. A broad man approached Ezio, giving him a sword. "Use this, my boy," he said with a great grin. Ezio held the blade, nodding.

"Kill them!" Vieri screamed. "Kill them all!"

The burly man turned and ran after Vieri. The young man grew terrified and bolted, running from the fight. _Coward_, I thought, glaring at his back. The fight continued, but with our allies, it ended quickly, many laying dead, while others ran with their leader. We all scraped by with hardly any injuries.

The man approached Ezio again, and Ezio held out the blade, bowing his head. "You have my thanks," Ezio politely said.

"Keep it, Ezio," the man said, pushing the blade back to him.

Ezio peered up. "Do I...know you from somewhere?"

"You mean to say you don't remember?" The man laughed loudly, a very friendly sound. "It's me! Mario!"

"Uncle Mario?" Ezio was shocked as the uncle threw a hug upon his nephew.

"It has been far too long, Ezio!" The man pulled away from Ezio, glancing over at the girls and I. I noticed that one of his eyes had a scar running through it, that eye milky white and faded. "Claudia and Maria! It is good to see you both unharmed." He pulled them into a hug, and I was very surprised when Maria responded to the hug. She hadn't spoken a word since that night that seemed so long ago. Then he was turned to me. "And you, _Signorina?_"

"Ah." I held out my hand as he took it, raising it to his lips. "My name is Narina, sir."

"Please, call me Mario," he insisted, throwing me a charming smile. Yep. He was definitely a part of the family. But then the charm was washed away by grief, and Mario turned back to Ezio. "I heard about what has happened in _Firenze_. Terrible."

My feel-good emotion was dashed away, and I hung my head. Terrible wasn't any way to describe it. It was far worse than terrible.

"Come, quickly. We must get you all away from here." Herding us like we were cattle, Mario ushered us all along the path, towards the city gates.

In the hustle and bustle, Ezio managed to throw me a look. I could only nod back. This was the right decision. It had to be.

* * *

Mario lived in this huge villa that overlooked the small town. Although the buildings were in bad conditions, I decided that it was quite cute. It definitely wasn't a city like Florence, but that wasn't so bad. In the villa, Mario showed us which rooms we were allowed to stay in, and I was pleased to find that I would be getting my own room—on the first floor next to the dining room, to my immense pleasure. It had been a few days, so I asked for a bath. Mario had one arranged for me to take in my new room, and, with a smile, he told me to settle in.

I already liked in in Monteriggioni. But I missed Florence too.

Within the next twenty minutes, some maids came in to help me draw a bath, bringing in heated water from the hearths from the kitchens. Then I stripped down, sliding into the water to scrub at the dirt and blood that was clinging to me. Some maids brought in some scented soaps for me to use, and I found the small gesture quite nice, and thanked her for the luxury. It wasn't living at the Mancini's, but it was endearing, nonetheless.

I toweled off quickly after my hair was scrubbed and my body was clean. The wardrobes were empty in the room, so I simply slipped back on my one dress, deciding that it was a shame that I had to leave all of my other clothes behind.

Shaking my hair out, not bothering to comb it, I walked out of my room and decided to look around the villa, try to familiarize myself with it. The layout of the house was a lot different than the villa back in Florence, yet it was simple and easy to figure out. The inside was very simple—the same set up upstairs and downstairs, not including the strange hallway that winded back into the villa in the upstairs. I dared not explore it, so I continued with my little investigation.

I ended up outside, in the back courtyard. The moon had risen high into the sky, reminding me what time it was. Walking out a little bit further, enjoying the feel of the cold air through my damp hair, feeling refreshed, I wandered over towards the small gardens that were growing out in the courtyard. In spite of everything, I couldn't help but smile, though I didn't really feel the happiness.

"Hey."

I turned. "Hi."

"What are you doing out here? It's cold." Ezio walked up next to me, dressed down for once instead of his father's robes.

I shrugged. "I just thought I'd get some fresh air." Turning away, I looked up at the night sky, remembering that Federico had once tried to teach me patterns in all of the mess. "It's all so strange to think about, don't you agree?" I lifted a hand, gesturing to the whole courtyard. "I mean, how in the world did things come to this? Just last week, life was happy and perfect. And now..." I faded off.

"Guess it just goes to show that all good things must come to an end." He sighed, drawing my attention back to him.

His head was bowed, his shoulders slumping. "Is there something wrong?" I wondered.

The golden hues met mine. "Not...really. Just a little overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed?"

Ezio shrugged. "My uncle just told me about my father. About what he really was besides a banker." I didn't know what to say. Ezio looked to hi s left hand, raising and spreading his fingers wide as though to use his weapon, although he no longer wore the hidden blade. "I guess my father was an assassin," he whispered as though afraid that I would hear him and mock him.

Turning back to him, I stepped closer. "Federico was training to be one, too."

When he looked at me, there was no form of accusation. He did, however, seem quite surprised. "You knew, then."

"Yes." I folded my hands together. "I guess I must have had some contact with the assassins before I forgot everything, because it just hit me one day. Meeting your father triggered something."

"Ah." Ezio looked up to the stars as well. We said nothing for a long moment, me staring at him while he stared up at the sky. He finally sighed, bringing his head back down. "When I look back on it now, I wish I would have asked my father about it. I always knew that there was something that he was hiding from me, but I never pressed it. Now I wish I would have."

I was shaking my head. "What difference would that have made?"

"I don't know," Ezio admitted helplessly. "But I felt that it could have helped in some way."

"You're helping him now," I pointed out. "Look, both of us know that Uberto is not the only person who is behind this whole conspiracy against your family, or this creed, or whatever. I say, if we want to stop it and end it all, we have to go for the main man at the head of it all and kill him."

"How do we do that, exactly?" Ezio argued, his dark brows knitting together. "We're only seventeen, Narina."

My chest heaved as I held in a breath, looking straight into Ezio's gaze. "We're not just seventeen, Ezio. You're an assassin and I'm seeking retribution. Besides, we have friends who are willing to help us." I reached out and grabbed onto his wrists, shaking his arms. "Despite how terrible things are and how sad we feel, we have the whole world at our fingertips."

He was shaking his head. "It's not that simple."

"Then we'll find a way." Dropping his wrists, I stood straight, daring him to go against me.

His golden eyes flashed oddly. "And we'll find the truth."

"Yes."

Something happened then. We _were_ only seventeen. But at that moment, our childhood was over.

* * *

**So...did any of you catch the symbolism I used with the chapter title and the whole point of this chapter?**

**I'm going to have a busy week next week, so maybe there won't be any updates. I'm going to try to figure out some good study habits so that I can start getting better grades on my freaking tests. XI**

**Anyway, yeah, totally have to work an Easton Corbin concert today. It's going to be a lot of work, but it'll be worth it when I get to do a meet and greet with him! :3**

**Thanks for reading and please review! ^^**


	9. The Two-Headed Viper

**-One of the things that you are all going to notice this time through is that I'm going to go into a little more detail with year skips. I felt like I left out a lot of story out by skipping around, even though I know that it is necessary sometimes.**

**Thanks for the reviews, dahlings! :D  
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****My Gulty Pleasure  
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****Kingdomonkey**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**The Two-Headed Viper**

* * *

Ezio was good at being an assassin. He didn't really accept the fact of the whole idea, but he was still very talented. When Mario started training him a few weeks after our arrival, I saw the potential within the young Auditore. An interest in the art of the blade formed as I would watch Ezio learn every day, and soon I convinced Mario to give me a few pointers as well. He teased me about my height, how small I was, and told me that I would be an ineffective fighter. But he had one of his trainers go over the basics with me, showing me how to hold blades, how to stance myself. Although I wasn't quite as able as Ezio with the blades, I still found the lessons fun and very useful.

Claudia preferred it if I helped her besides me playing to boy and getting sword training. But what she did wasn't exactly my cup of tea. She was assigned by her uncle to work on the town books, the accounts and records of the city's wealth. She kept track on how many businesses were running, which ones needed repairs, how much money they needed, and how much money they would make. I don't know if it was because her father was a banker, but Claudia was quite good with math. I, on the other hand, sucked at it—well, at least I didn't enjoy it. But, considering how sad Claudia was that she had to stay inside all day, I would occasionally sit and talk with her.

Most days, I would be out in the training yard, sparring with the mercenaries and learning the precious art of swordplay. Not to mention, I spent a lot of time with Ezio. Even though he learned at a much faster pace than I did, he would usually have me train with him at the end of the day. At first, he had made fun of me for wanting to learn how to fight, saying it wasn't a woman's work, but he was thoroughly impressed with how well I was learning, even if I wasn't as efficient as him.

During our small sparring sessions, I learned that Ezio loved to play tricks, including cheating when it came to training. But even then, I found it very nice. I felt like my severed ties to the Auditore family were slowly being mended. Despite Ezio being somewhat rude and just as hardheaded as I was, I found in him a friend that I could depend on. But we would argue. We would argue a lot. He had to be right in every aspect, and I wasn't about to let him win. He had won far too many times in his life, and I was going to show him that it wouldn't be that easy anymore. Despite of it all, however, he was a good friend; a best friend, even.

Months passed, the new year came, and before I knew it, it was the next summer. During those hot days when the sun would be too unbearable during the noon, Ezio would take the time to help me learn how to climb buildings so he wouldn't, and I quote, "have to carry my lazy-ass around". That took a long time. My arms were so weak, the muscles in my arms not even working in the slightest. But Ezio was patient, and soon found a way that was easy to have me catch onto the gist of everything.

As I would climb up the side of the building, heaving and sweating, Ezio would stand up on the roof and bark orders at me, telling me what to do. Although it was annoying at the time, I did find his little tidbits of information quite useful.

Since I had started training with swords and started climbing buildings, I adopted more...activity-friendly clothes, donning slacks and shirts that were much too big for me. I didn't really mind—I wasn't really trying to impress anyone anyway. I would have been hard to fight and climb in a dress anyhow.

* * *

"Come on, Narina. You're almost there," Ezio shouted down to me, bending over with his hands on his knees. His robes where bright white in the high sunlight, making him a glowing white light.

Growling, I reached up for the next notch, gripping onto the stone, heaving myself up a little higher. My arms ached and my palms were sweaty, but I could do it. Just a few more pulls...!

Despite my confidence, my hand slipped from the stone, and I choked on a breath, feeling myself start to tip backwards. Ezio's hand shot out, grabbing onto my arm before I could fall, and he pulled me up onto the roof, clicking his tongue. "So close," he muttered. "Maybe tomorrow."

My breathes heaved unsteadily. "I could have had that—you shouldn't have helped me!"

"And let you splatter on the ground?" Ezio laughed sarcastically. "No."

A pout graced my face, a increasingly common expression that I had adopted with Ezio. "I must learn somehow, and you babying me the whole way isn't going to get me anywhere!"

"Oh hush." Ezio stepped away from the edge of the roof, walking to the other side. "If I am too blunt with you, you'll reject the teachings and give up. I've got you figured out."

I stuck my tongue out at him, even though he didn't notice. Because he was absolutely right. If he pushed me too hard, I would have just yelled at him and dropped the lessons all together. Besides, the whole reason that I yell at him anyway is because fights with Ezio were always fun. "Are we not going to do another run?" I asked.

"Your poor, tiny arms are shaking," he mocked, throwing a grin back at me, his golden eyes glinting even in the shadow of his hood. "We'll wait until tomorrow. In any case, I believe I have to go start training with Mario soon."

Huffing under my breath, I turned and looked over the edge of the roof. "Fine." I may have not been all that talented at climbing just yet, but I was good at getting down. So, along the fancy metal work against the main wall of the courtyard, I climbed down, landing on the stone ground before grinning with pride. I was getting good, and despite Ezio calling my arms tiny, I was building some muscle. I just wish that they didn't have to hurt so much, but there wasn't really much I could do about it.

Once I had washed my hands and changed into some less dirty clothes, I went and had lunch with Claudia and Maria, of whom still was in her statue-like state. It was sad to walk into her room, finding her so deep in thought that you couldn't fish her out of it, or finding her praying, one of the eagle feathers of Petruccio's clamped in her hands. It was sad because the world hadn't stopped for her, because she was all alone in her memories while the rest of us moved on. It was sad because it made me think of Federico and how he was gone. During training, I never wore the necklace due to the fear that it would be broken, but other than that, I wore it at every chance I could. It made me feel like he wasn't that far away, like he was still within my reach.

After lunch, I went down to the training ring to sit on the outside and watch Ezio train. He was learning about judging his enemy's movements and using those judgments to decide what to do himself; countering, if you would. It had been a concept he had worked at for about a week before, but he was starting to catch on. I stayed out and watched him until we were all called in for dinner. Life at Monteriggioni wasn't near as grand as living with the Mancini's or even visiting the Auditore Villa—it wasn't as luxurious. But it was quite comfortable, and I actually preferred it that way. Uncle Mario was so kind, and the banters that he and Ezio would get on just tickled me pink. They were quite a humorous duo.

Night came and I prepared for bed, my arms growing increasingly sore. I couldn't wait until I could just pull myself up a wall without a second thought, not even breathing hard; just like Ezio could. But for now, I would have to deal with the progress pains. As I slipped into my night dress, I walked to my window and stared out and up at the night sky. I had forgotten the patterns that I had been loosely taught. But maybe if I stared at them long enough, I could remember them. But I wanted a better view. A thought occurred to me. Could I do it by myself? Dare I? So much excitement rushed through me that I didn't even change out of my nightgown, running out of the villa and out into the courtyard.

The wall was so tall, I realized, especially when Ezio wasn't towering above me, marking my goal. But I could do this! Rubbing my hands together, I hauled myself up the small garden statue placed there and reached up for the divots in the wall. Hand over hand, feet placing themselves carefully into the holes of the metal work, I made my way up the wall, the night air cooling me and making the climb almost easier. When I gripped onto the edge of the roof, a rush of accomplishment burst through me. I did it! I climbed the building all by myself! Internally celebrating as I heaved myself over the edge, I giggled under my breath, elated that I had done it.

I caught my breath, and stood up, staring up at the sky and enjoying all the pretty little dots littering the sky. Only a few steps across the roof, a voice made me stop. "What the hell are you doing out there?"

I turned and looked up into the windows above me. "Look Ezio!" I said in excitement, ignoring the shocked look he was giving me from inside his room. "I climbed the building all by myself!"

"Be careful! God, you're so stupid!" To my surprise, Ezio flung open his window wide and clamored out of it, landing on the roof with bare feet."You could have fallen and cracked your head open!"

"No, you're stupid!" I argued, pointing at him. "You're going to cut your feet up!"

He was dressed down again, the basics of a normal outfit. He reached out and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me lightly. "Don't worry about my feet—you could have killed yourself!"

"But I didn't!" I pointed out, my brow knitting and my lips twisting together. "Can't you at least be happy that I'm actually learning?"

He let go of me, heaving a sigh. "I swear, you're more trouble than I ever anticipated."

"Well, it gives you a challenge, at least." I adverted my attention back to the sky. "Do you remember the patterns in the sky Federico taught us that one time? That's the whole reason I'm up here."

Ezio shrugged. "Stars never really impressed me."

"How could they not?" I asked in surprise. "Can you even imagine what they are? Science hasn't even began to explain how far they are, what they really are." I looked up at them, mesmerized by how they seemed to dance above us. "They make me feel so small, so insignificant. They are up in the heavens and shine so bright. But we can't touch them."

Ezio stared up with me for a long moment, both of us searching throughout the mess of lights. Then he huffed and rubbed his eyes. "I really don't appreciate you trying to kill yourselves. Look at the stars all you want, but don't climb up the walls until you're ready."

I pouted again. "Well, how am I supposed to get up to the roof then?"

"Climb through my windows for now. I don't mind."

I paused a moment. "Will you look at them with me sometimes?"

He thought about it for a few seconds. "Sure. I guess I don't do anything else before bed."

Grateful, I smiled at him and reached out to take him arm. "Well, if I have to go through your window, you're going to have to help me through."

"Of course." He hauled me up into the window and sent me off to bed, telling me that I had to be more careful, but then smiled and told me that he was pretty impressed that I had done it at all. Happy with that, I went to bed and felt myself happy that I was indeed improving in this involved-with-an-assassin life.

* * *

Since that night, my climbing skill flourished and I was pro before winter came around again, before I turned eighteen. The new age reminded me that it had been a year since the death of the Auditore's, and on the day, Mario had a big feast set up. He told us that we didn't have to look back on the day in despair. While the death of Giovanni and his sons was indeed devastating, there was no point in moping about it. Though it felt like we were celebrating the death, which bothered me, I supposed that none of our fallen comrades would have wanted us to be crying and upset.

Winter slowed down training. Although it didn't snow much, the cold was still too much to handle, and so the lessons were only taught about twice a week. Which led Ezio and I to spend a bunch of time in the front hall of the building with our practice swords. He taught me everything he knew—well, at least _tried _to teach me. It was all very hard to comprehend let alone master. Usually, our little session turned into us sitting around and complaining about the cold. Besides, Ezio was so well trained with his blade that it wasn't much of a fair training session since I still had so much to learn.

Spring was warm that next year, the coldness drifting slowly away. There was rarely any rain, which Ezio claimed meant that it was going to mean a dry year, but it made me happy—I liked the warmth. One other thing; spring marked the end of Ezio's training.

* * *

I walked out of my room just as Ezio was descending the last stair. "_Salute_, Ezio," I greeted with a big smile. "Good luck with your final test."

"_Grazie_." He tugged on the front of his hood, moving it more forward.

"Are you nervous? I mean, you're up against your uncle," I reminded him, trying to upset his great confidence. "That guy has got some years under his belt."

"I'm not nervous," Ezio insisted, grinning down at me. "But thanks for the concern."

I frowned. "Concern my ass. Just don't get stabbed or anything."

"Right, right." He turned and walked out the front door, to the ring for his final session with his uncle. I saw a flip of his cape before the doors closed, and I sighed. Things were moving too fast, in my opinion. He had just seemed a day ago that Ezio couldn't even properly hold a blade, and now he was testing to become a master. Just like his father. And me? Well, I was getting there.

The sun was setting, the light pouring through the villa windows, making me sigh as I noticed that the days were all slipping by with such speed. I went and talked with Claudia for a while, knowing that if I went and watched Ezio, it might have caused a distraction. Since it was near evening, Claudia was almost done for the day, excited because her friend that she had made from the town was going to come and visit the Villa and eat dinner with the family. The girl's name was Ciosa, and Claudia had spoken fondly of her, so I was excited to meet her.

Half an hour passed, and I decided to go take a peek at Ezio's test. I slipped out of the front door and stood on my tip toes to look down in the ring. I was surprised when I saw Ezio and Mario standing there with their swords lowered. And Mario was upset. Alarmed, I took a few steps forward, ready to break up a fight if necessary.

"You would leave all of this behind, _Nipote_?" Mario yelled, his voice booming. "To give up on everything your father fought and _died _for? To deny your heritage?"

"I have to keep my family safe!" Ezio argued back. "I can't play the hero—I have to keep them protected!"

"Yet you would leave Narina behind?" My body froze, my gut clenching. "You are not even going to tell her where you're going?"

"If I did, she would follow!" Ezio ground out. "She doesn't need to be with us; she isn't our family! She has men coming after her, putting my family in danger! I have taught her as many skills as I can, so she can help you with your battles. She's better off here with you!"

"Then you'd abandon her? Abandon everything that I've been training you for?"

"I can use this strength to protect my family!"

"It isn't about your family anymore, Ezio! This is something much larger!" Mario threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! So be it! You run off to Spain! _Arrivederci e buona fortuna!_" Mario stormed from the ring, up the stairs, completely ignoring me, and into the villa. But my eyes were trained on Ezio in the ring, who had turned exasperatedly to the ringmaster, asking him questions about why Mario was so upset.

I nearly fell down the stairs when I realized that there was this unbearable weight pressing down on me, making me want to collapse. The feeling increased even more when Ezio turned and spotted me frozen on the steps, staring at him like he had turned into some kind of creature. His golden eyes filled with realization. Before he could react or say anything to me, I snapped out of my state and whirled around, taking off after Mario, the new light in my dark world. I felt so lost.

In a blur, I was in Mario's office, staring at his back as he was strapping on armor.

"Mario."

He turned and looked at me. I'm not sure what he saw, but it caused his face to crumple and him to turn fully towards me, holding his arms open wide. I ran to him, taking comfort in his hold. "You'll always be family to me, Narina," Mario murmured, his soft words making my lip tremble. "We'll be fine. We can get by." He held me away, and I nodded. "For now, I must ride to San Giorno to take take of Vieri."

I heard before that the young man from Florence had been harrying Mario ever since we had arrived. It was time to get revenge for the scar on my back. "I'm going with."

"Good. We're going to need all the help we can get." Mario raised a finger. "Before you go, stop by the armorers to get a suit of armor—I will not have you go into battle without it."

"Of course." Pushing aside my devastation, I left out the side door of the office and made my way around the villa and down into the town. I avoided the ring just in case Ezio was there. I didn't want to deal with that situation just yet. For all I knew, whenever we would get back from this mission, Ezio would be gone.

Gone. I had to swallow back the hysteria. That word did not run well with me.

Why would he do it? Why was he going to abandon me? I had thought that all those times we spent together climbing and learning with each other was bonding time. He was my friend. Or was he? Had he just taken the time to train me just so he wouldn't feel as guilty about leaving? My mind was boggled. And I was devastated.

I was at the armorers, having the fabricator there help me strap on some light-weight armor when Mario walked by. "Meet me by the stables, Narina, and I will give you a blade there."

"Okay." I finished up with the armor, thanked the man and quickly followed after Mario, grateful for his presence in all of the darkness (the same darkness that Federico had warned me about).

Once at the stables, Mario had me perched up on a horse and a sword strapped to my hip. There were many other mercenaries on horses beside me, waiting for Mario to give the order to head out. The day had completely disappeared, leaving the darkened sky dotted with stars. I turned my attention away from them, not liking how they reminded me of things that were of the past. Just like the stars were, those memories were far from my reach.

* * *

We headed out for San Giorno immediately under the veil of the night, Mario's men keeping the conversation short and very limited. I suppose it was a good thing, although it did allow my mind to wander to unwanted places. No matter how hard I tried to think of the upcoming battle and how I would stab Vieri back, my thoughts turned to far depths that I no longer cared for.

About a mile outside of the small city, Mario stopped the group, telling us all to dismount. We gathered in a group, huddling around Mario who gave us all a long look. "This is it, men," he whispered as if those hiding in the town would hear us. "Tonight, we will end this man and his reign of terror. May our blades strike fast and true." His eye swept over all of us again. "Some of us _will_ fall. But know, my friends, that we do this for the greater good."

They all nodded, and I followed in suite, taking in some of their courage for my own. I was capable of good things. I knew it.

Then the circle broke, and all of the men turned to each other, shaking hands and saying low 'goodbye's under their breaths, almost as if they knew that they were going to die. I stood there alone for a long moment, sadness melding into a hard lump within me. I hated goodbyes. But I should have been saying them along with the men. I was far less skilled than any of them. If anyone was going to die, I knew that it was going to be me. And that was the way it was preferred, wasn't it? I told myself no, but I couldn't help but feel hopeless.

Mario approached me, taking a firm hold of my shoulder. "Be careful," he told me.

I reached back up to his, squeezing the firm shoulder tightly. "You too," I whispered, holding back the tears.

We set a plan after the men all gathered again, and my part in the whole thing was to open the gates, considering that Mario was impressed with my climbing skills. It wasn't that hard of a role, but it was extremely vital—I couldn't let them down. With slow movements, we made our way to the city. I kept my eyes on and around the gate, trying to figure out a good path to climb up the walls. There would be guards posted on the inside, so a few mercenaries were to go with me to watch my back while I pulled the gates open. The two men and I shared a glance at each other and ran for the walls, getting a quick approach to heave us up the wall. Lighter than they were, I pulled myself up first, out of breath since I wasn't used to climbing with armor on.

On the battlements, there were guards there, and one of them yelled at me. Before I knew it, I was being set upon by a guard, who was swinging his sword angrily at me. My small lessons kicked in, and I ducked from the attack. The other two hopped over the wall and took care of the guard for me. The three of us dropped down into the city, landing in enemy territory.

Keeping to the shadows, we made our way back towards the gates where there were a handful guards posted there. I nodded to both of my allies. In the next second, they were off, dashing towards the guards with their swords drawn. I lagged behind, waiting until the battle started before I moved forward. At the gate, most of the guards were distracted by the other two mercenaries, so I had plenty of time to approach the wheel mechanism that worked the gate. Having to use most of my weight, I finally tugged the wheel into motion, the gate creaking open slowly. My actions had drawn the attention of the guards, and several of them left the battle to confront me.

Mario must have anticipated the arrival of more guards behind the city gates, for two more mercenaries dropped down into the city, defending me against the guards that had come to attack me, giving me enough time to pull the gate wide open. All hell broke loose; Mario and his men came screaming through the gates, weapons held high in the air. More of the city guard had been alerted of the attack, and came in swarms.

As I pulled out my own sword, I realized that I had never been in an actual battle before—not even a good, legitimate sparring session. Swallowing back my fear, I held the sword just like Ezio had taught me. Before I actually had to fight, however, Mario broke from the fight and ran up to me. "Narina!" He breathed, jamming his finger up to the roofs. "Climb up high and look around town. See if you can find Vieri! We will take care of the guards here and be right behind you!"

I nodded. "Of course." Sheathing the blade, I turned and scaled up the building, forgetting the battle behind me. My footsteps echoed so strangely back to me as I ran across the tiles, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. I wasn't entirely sure where I should have been looking, but I knew that I would recognize Vieri immediately.

Towards the northern part of the town, in a giant plaza that opened up wide for the gates, there stood a group of men all huddled together. Many of them I didn't recognize, but Vieri's pale face shined bright from the moon. My jaw clenched as I took in his features. Their words were too quiet. The only thing I could do was stare at the group from my high vantage point, trying to stay hidden behind a chimney. Soon after, a man ran into the plaza, screaming out that Mario was infiltrating the city. Vieri laughed at the announcement like it was some simple game, then waved off the rest of the men, who all wore dark hoods. As Vieri walked further into the city, the others made their way out of the gate and into the darkness of the countryside.

Deciding to trail Vieri, I forgot about the other men and ran along the rooftops for a moment to get a feel of Vieri's direction before I, too, dropped to the ground and followed on foot. It was hard to keep my eye on him down in the curvy streets, and I lost sight of my target often. But when I did catch sight of him again, he was climbing a ladder up the city walls, heading for a tower stationed there. I frowned. He was cornering himself. What was he planning? Higher spots had advantages, but Vieri wasn't stupid enough to think that we couldn't reach him up there. My eyes narrowed.

Just as I was about to make my move to follow Vieri up the ladder, Mario and his men came rushing through the streets from all sides, screaming out their rage. Most of the guards were stationed to protect Vieri, and they lined up to place a barrier between Mario's men and Vieri. The battled ensued, the high ringing of metal singing out through the air, blood being spilled. Shifting through the shadows, I managed to make my way over to the ladder to the tower without being noticed, and I quickly pulled myself up, eagerness rushing through my veins.

Vieri at that point of time had spotted me, and was calling guards to protect him. On top of the walkway that snaked along the wall, I ran for the tower, dodging an arrow from the guards up by Vieri, and launching myself up the wall. Using my light weight to my advantage, I climbed not only upwards, but sideways along the building, making myself a hard target for the arrows. As I circled up the tower, Vieri's screams became louder, the panic finally settling in. Perhaps he didn't have an ulterior motive for sneaking high up in the tower, but something told me to be careful.

With one last tug, I was up and over the edge, staring into the wide eyes of Vieri. He was pressed against the lip of the tower, his brow furrowed, his teeth bared. "Kill her!" He screamed, the archers by him dropping their bows and pulling out daggers.

One of them rushed for me, blade poised to kill, but I quickly dodged to the side, catching my foot around the man's ankle and ripping his feet from under him. As he landed with a thud, the other guard had reached out and took a firm hold of me, tugging my arms uncomfortably being my back, leaving me wide open. Crying out, I began to struggle, knowing it wouldn't be good if I couldn't get free.

Vieri took the moment and drew out his blade, the metal shining so bright. Fear bolted through me, freezing my struggles. This was it. I was going to die. I was going to die for a Creed that I knew nothing but everything about. I thought of Federico, the cold metal of his necklace on my chest, and a fire grew from the coldness. With a violent tug, I was out of the man's hold, and I turned to drill my fist against his stomach, the armor hard, but knocking the man back against the rim of the tower, gasping in a breath.

In the same fluid movement, I drew my sword and ran up to Vieri, my hand clasping so tightly around the handle of the sword. Terror filled his face, and he stumbled back against the stone wall, collapsing in a heap as he accepted his death. Standing above him, I swung my sword above my head, ready to strike.

I watched him as he curled into a tighter ball, sweat appearing on his brow, his jaw clenched so tightly. His dark eyes peered up at me, so sickeningly cold that his heart had to have been made of pure ice. And I hated him. Rage coursed through so violently in my veins that killing him would be the only way. My muscles tightened and my heart skipped a beat. But I didn't move. My face fell.

The next moment, Vieri was lunging at me, knocking me back as my weapon flew from my hands. My head smacked against the stone, making me cry out in pain. Something sharp pressed up against the soft skin of my neck, and I froze in response.

"You deserve nothing more," Vieri spat at me, the blade pressing closer to my neck. "That bastard Federico will soon have you once more."

As much as I tried to fight it, tears welled up in my eyes, one escaping down into my hair. This couldn't be the end. Not when everything was so upside down.

There was a loud noise, and the blade left my throat. My eyes flew open, and I found myself in a state of disbelief. Before me was a strong man in white robes, his dagger pushed to the hilt inside of Vieri's stomach, his hood darkening the features of his face. What was Ezio doing here?

As I sat up, Ezio was suddenly shaking the dying Vieri, screaming profane names at the man. I watched in complete horror, not sure what was happening and not entirely sure if the man in front of me was the Ezio that I knew. In the next second, Mario heaved over the edge of the tower's edge, pulling Ezio away from Vieri.

"Ezio!" He scolded. "Show respect for the dead!"

"Respect?" Ezio spat back, his anger so bright in his eyes. "Do you think he would have shown us such respect?"

Mario pressed a finger into Ezio's chest, staring his nephew straight in the eye. "You are not Vieri," he said darkly. "Do not become him." With that, the uncle knelt down before the fallen Pazzi, closing the young man's eyes with a brush of his fingertips. "May death provide the peace that you sought," Mario murmured, bowing his head as if saying a prayer for his own family. "_Requiescat in pace_." Mario stood and went to the edge of the tower, screaming victory to his men below.

I sat up, rubbing at my throat that seemed to be burning.

"Are you okay?" Ezio asked, worry written all over his face as he knelt beside me, brushing my hair over my shoulder so he could see my neck.

The only thing I could seem to do was stare at him. He had saved me. I was grateful. Happy. Annoyed. And upset. Grasping onto the unstable emotion, I swung my fist at him, nailing him right in the face. As he fell back onto his backside, groaning and clamping at his nose, I pushed myself up off of the stone, giving him the nastiest glare that I could muster.

Leaving him, I went to stand by Mario, gazing down over the tower, at my comrades that had made it out of the battle alive.

A sigh billowed out of me. Vieri had been killed. But why wasn't I satisfied with the thought?

I began to wonder then what revenge actually solved. I still had the scar on my back. Ezio was still upset. And Federico was still gone. Vieri's death had solved nothing.

* * *

**When naming this chapter, I recalled the ATLA episode where Katara goes to kill the man that murdered her mother, and how Aang told her that revenge is like a two-headed snake (or whatever example he used in the crazy ATLA universe): when you're striking down your enemy, you're also striking yourself in the process. The strongest thing you can do is forgive.**

**But then again, if I were to strictly follow that, than this AC story would come to a screeching halt. So revenge will have to do. X3**

**Thanks for reading and please review! :3**


	10. Shadows from the Past

**-I am getting sick. Which sucks. Sore throats can all go to hell! :I  
****-I started replaying ACII. It's been pretty fun. :3**

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
****kingdomonkey  
****Miruka67  
****Dstrife13  
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****The Fox Familiar  
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****silverauror  
****shippolove844  
****Loyal Kuhn  
****Guest  
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****Bloody NailBunny**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Shadows of The Past**

* * *

There were many wounded from the battle. Several were dead. Still, Mario and the remaining collected those who had fallen and actually performed a service for them before burning the bodies. Some of the fallen had been so young—it was a shame that they had to die so early in their lives. We left the flames to burn high in the sky, not letting the memory of them die as easily. The glow was still visible far down the road, but as we turned around a bend and went through a small grove of trees, the light disappeared and we were all left in the dark.

I kept to the back of the group, not finding it in myself to be as excited as the others about our victory. Something deep inside was disturbing me, causing my thoughts to try and pry into the darkness that filled the majority of my mind. I was trying so very hard to remember something, but I couldn't quite make it out.

So lost in thought was I that I didn't even notice when one of the horses from ahead dropped back to walk beside me.

"_Salute_."

The voice did register, but I didn't want to acknowledge it. Keeping my gaze firmly forward, I prodded my legs into the side of my horse, making it walk faster.

"Come now, Narina," Ezio insisted, moving up next to me again. "You should be happy. Vieri is gone."

I should have been. But I wasn't. Gritting my teeth, I continued to prod my horse into going faster. "Leave me alone," I finally spat. "Just like you were planning on doing before."

He sighed. "I wasn't planning on leaving you alone, Narina. I was just..."

"Going to go to Spain without even telling me that you were leaving!" I finished angrily for him, snapping a glare back at him. "What was I supposed to do? Just wake up one morning and find you all gone? Take all of the responsibility of this Creed that your father meant for you? I was just your replacement, wasn't I?" Fed up, I turned around and snapped the reigns, making the horse break out into a gallop as I intended to ride back into the middle of the group.

"Narina, I just—!" He never got the rest out. After a loud 'smack' I was suddenly being tossed backwards, off the back of my horse as I tumbled down into the dirt, scraping up my arm and probably bruising in a few spots. When I gathered my bearings, I looked up, seeing my horse dancing nervously up the road a bit, obviously in discomfort.

Ezio was kneeling beside me, sitting me up. "Are you okay?" He asked, touching at my arm that was bleeding in a few places.

I frowned, ripping away from him. "You are such an asshole!" I snapped, standing up on my own as I brushed off the dirt from my bottom. "Why'd you scare my horse? I could have been killed! God, it's just one thing after another with you, isn't it?"

Ezio, who had stayed calm all before, turned angry, his dark brows pulling together. "Say what you really want to say, Narina, so we can stop all of this bullshit."

Bristling, I jabbed my finger right into his chest, through his hard, leather armor. "You think you're so much better than everyone else," I yelled at him, the anger coursing through me again. "All you care about is your well-being and how your life needs to be perfect! And I'm done with it! Run off to Spain, for all I care! I just wish you would have had the decency to say it right to my face instead of leaving me in the dust." I finished by spitting at his boot. "And I thought we were friends." With that, I turned and directed for my horse, the group far up the road.

"God, Narina, we _are_ friends! Just—wait." His hand was around my upper arm, tugging me to a halt. I didn't want to talk anymore. I didn't want to face him, not with tears filling in my eyes. I was too scared to be abandoned again. But I didn't want to be comforted. I wanted to be mad. Trying to rip from his hold, I realized that he wasn't about to let go.

Helpless, I growled in frustration as I turned and faced him, the tears streaming down my face. "Let go," I demanded.

"No." He was pulling me towards him, closer and closer. I struggled hard, but I soon found myself nestled against his chest, holding me tightly to him. I made a few futile attempts to push at him, but it was no use. In the end, I actually ended up burying my face in the robes peeking out of his armor and dried my eyes, leaning into him.

"You and I will always be friends," he told me in a soft voice. "I knew if I were to tell you that I was going to Spain, you would have followed. Which I'm fine with, I promise. But I can't have you leave this great protection here—Mario is able to guard you from your enemies. I was just trying to keep you safe."

For Federico's sake, then. But I hardly think the brother would have approved of Ezio's methods. I finally pushed away, gently, but firmly enough that I broke free from his hold. "You're stuck here just as much as I am," I pointed out to him, my voice finally lowered. "Mario needs you. I need you. And besides, I think Maria and Claudia would prefer to stay in _Italia_."

He nodded. "I know. I've decided that I'm going to stay—at least a little longer."

Relief washed through me. "Well, then good."

I went for my horse which was making its way back over to us, and once I was safely mounted, Ezio began to lead the way, the others mere dark spots down the road. We didn't speak, but I didn't feel like we had to.

* * *

When we got back to Monteriggioni, the night was nearly gone. As we dismounted our horses at the stables, I realized that I had missed out on meeting Claudia's friend. Some other time. Ezio helped me take off the saddle and walked with me up to the villa. Before we entered through the main door, Ezio grabbed my arm and tugged me to a stop.

"Narina," he muttered, making me look up at him.

"What is it?" I wanted to go to bed. I was so tired.

Ezio hesitated. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

My brows raised. "Oh." He let go of me. "It...it's okay. I know I was angry before, but... I don't know." I let a small smile appear. I jabbed my finger into his chest. "Just don't let it happen again."

Ezio smiled back. "Deal."

"If it does, I won't let you off so easily."

"Fine."

We walked into the front hall and there Mario was standing, talking with the master trainer. He turned at our entry. "_Nipote!_ Narina! You are finally here!" Despite it being very early in the morning, Mario's voice was still very boisterous. "It's a great thing you came when you did, Ezio!"

"_Si_. I am sorry that I did not see my duties before, Uncle. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course, Ezio!" Mario waved us to follow him. "Come, come—I must show you something that your father and I started many years ago." I wanted to go to sleep, but I was also very curious about what Mario was talking about. I battled with myself before I decided to follow them through the villa to Mario's office. Inside the small room, Mario gestured up to the giant wall, a few papers pinned up on the wall. "See this, Ezio? _This_ is the answer to all of our questions."

Ezio looked up at it incredulously. "A wall holds our answers?"

"Not yet, but it will!" Mario took a hold of Ezio's shoulders, drawing him closer. "You see, my boy, we have to _find_ these pages. Once we have them all, our goal will be finished!"

"What is our goal, Uncle?"

Mario stepped away, approaching his bookshelf. "To find the truth, Ezio, like our brothers before us. The Creed has been around for many more years than we. Come." Mario moved a few books from the shelf, revealing a small square block hiding behind the shelf. He reached forward and pressed it into the wall. A sudden rumble shook the ground beneath me, and then the wall beside the bookshelf suddenly started to shift, moving aside as the stone scraped loudly against itself. The wall moved aside to reveal a small hallway that dropped down into the darkness. With a candle in hand, Mario led us down the stone hallway that dipped lower and lower. Ezio and I cast each other a short look as we descended down into the dark, feeling some sort of eery foreboding appearing.

After slowly making our way down a maze of stairs, a light beckoned us. The large opening revealed a large, circular room. We walked up to the small balcony over the room, staring around with curious eyes. There were a total of seven statues lipping the edge of the room. The one in the middle, directly in front of us, as blocked off by a cage.

"What is this?" Ezio whispered in awe.

"This," Mario said with a great grin, "is the sanctuary! It was built by my great-grandfather, Domenico Auditore, to honor the Assassin's order and to protect its secrets."

"What kind of secrets?" I asked, leaning over the low wall to gaze upon the statues.

"I'm not sure." Mario waved for us to follow him again, and he led us down into the room where we stood in the middle of the room. The statues were _giant_, all forms of men and women. Mario went into detail of who each statue was, telling us of their master assassin status and what they had done to help save humanity. The last statue, the one in the middle behind the cage, was a broad man, his left hand held out as a hidden blade was extracted.

I leaned against the cage, my fingers falling through the bars as I stared up at the stone face.

"This is Altair," Mario explained. "He was the one who created the creed that we live by today. He was the grandmaster back in the Holy Land many years ago. With his knowledge and his persistence, he has carved a path for all of us to live by."

"Altair," I murmured, squinting my eyes at the statue as if to see something hidden beneath the stone.

"Why is it caged?" Ezio asked, grabbing onto the bars like I was.

Mario hummed under his breath. "I do not know. Perhaps there is something hidden within. In any case, the way to open them is to find the six tomes." Mario had approached the side of the cage and patted the pictures carved into the stone. "These tomes are all scattered across _Italia_, hidden away in tombs that Domenico also went through the trouble of constructing and hiding. Giovanni and I looked for them once when we were younger, but...alas, the years have not been so kind."

"Want us to look for them?" Ezio offered, letting go of the cage and turning to his uncle.

"Not so fast, _Nipote_," Mario quickly said, reaching out and taking a hold of Ezio's shoulder. "As great as that is, there are much more important things on our hands. Vieri was only the beginning." Mario led Ezio back across the sanctuary. I gave the Altair statue one more look before I turned and quickly followed after them. "There are more allies that are behind him. Corrupt days are not far, my boy, and we need to stop it as best as we can."

"But how, Uncle?" Ezio sounded lost.

"It will not be easy," Mario admitted as we walked back into his office, "but we will find a way. We must, for the sake of humanity."

I found myself thinking about how long it would take to save humanity from destroying itself. Thousands of years? They could only survive for so long. Suddenly feeling uneasy, I pushed the thoughts aside and watched as Mario was digging around in his desk.

"I need you to take a look at this codex, to see if you cannot break the cipher." The man held out a page to his nephew, who took the scroll and held it in his fist.

"Actually, I have a friend who could probably crack the code with no trouble," Ezio explained. "He deciphered one for me two years ago."

"So you have a page? Well, bring it here!" Mario was excited, and Ezio went up to his room to get the page. Mario took the page, looked it over, and then pinned it up on the wall. "_Magnifico!_" He exalted, grinning broadly. "One more down. Ezio, if you would, go to _Firenze_ and get this one decoded, I would be very pleased."

"Of course."

"And while you are there, you can go after our next target on my list: Francesco De Pazzi."

I glanced up. Vieri's father? I guess it wasn't that surprising, considering that the last time that I had heard of him, he was imprisoned for murder. And seeing what kind of trouble that his son had been in, it wasn't any surprise to see that Francesco was a part of it all as well.

"Be careful, Ezio." Mario reached out to grip his nephew's shoulder. "You are now a man, and you have many trials to come. It will be dangerous. You must keep yourself safe."

"I will." Ezio then turned to me, a sense of determinacy coming over the two of us. "Narina, we leave for Florence in two days."

Although I did want to go see Leonardo and the city again, I found enough gall in me to fold my arms and cock a brow at Ezio. "Oh, so _now_ you want me to follow you?"

His face fell. "Narina, I though we—."

"I was kidding," I interrupted. "I don't want to argue—I'm exhausted. We'll fight tomorrow."

A small smile appeared on his face. "Okay. Goodnight, then."

"Narina." Mario was grabbing my shoulder, beaming down at me. "You did very well tonight. Thank you for your assistance."

I nodded happily back, raising a finger to poke it into his chest. "I may not have the name or the blood to prove it, but I'm as much Auditore as you two. I'll fight for whatever you need me to."

Mario laughed, patting my shoulder. "Never has it been better said!"

* * *

The next day consisted of spending some time with Claudia as she worked the books in the office. She asked me what it was like outside of Monteriggioni, like she had been imprisoned for many years. I laughed and told her that it was much the same—she wasn't missing much. She didn't like the fact that Ezio and I were going to Florence without her, but she understood that there was business to be done there as well as in the villa. It wasn't a vacation. She had grown up considerably from the two years prior, much like Ezio and I. I guess when your life changed so suddenly, you learned to take responsibility to try and keep everything around.

Ezio was gone that entire day, either training in the ring or helping Mario down in the town. I didn't get to have my argument with him, but when I thought about it, there was nothing to really fight about. And in any case, I was more sad than I was mad.

Finally, I woke up early the next day to strap into my light armor and meet Ezio down at the stables. He wore the normal white and red robes, saddling up the horses with packs and supplies. He glanced up at me as I walked into the stalls. "Up for a long day of riding?" He asked, tightening a strap.

"Yeah." I handed him my pack to which he moved to the other horse to strap on. "How long do you think we'll be in Florence?"

"I don't know." Ezio finished with the buckle and nodded to me. "Ready to go?"

I dipped my head in response. "Yes."

Swinging myself up onto the horse, Ezio followed in suite. With a run over of our supplies, Ezio concluded that we were ready to go. In a cloud of dust, we left Monteriggioni and headed for the city of gold.

* * *

The ride was quite uneventful, full of silence and the pounding of the hooves below. The sun slowly rose into the sky, a spring breeze rushing through the air. It was a nice day. Upon our mounts, it only took us about half the time to get to the city, the grand, red roofs appearing as we rode in around high noon. As we tied our horses just outside the stables, I looked over at Ezio from under the steeds large neck.

"Can we visit your family's grave?" I asked.

He glanced back at me. "If you really want to."

"I do." I felt like I needed to say something to them, although I knew well enough that my words could never reach them.

We finished up with the horses, and, much to my surprise, Ezio started to head away from the entrance to the city, walking along the edge of the city walls.

"What are you doing?" I asked, quickly falling into step with him.

"We're going to their graves," he responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Out here?" I was so confused.

"Narina." Ezio stopped, making me nearly run into him. "Think about it—my family was considered traitorous. The city wasn't going to bury them."

My breath hitched. "Then what happened to them?"

"I put their bodies on a boat that night before the city disposed of them," Ezio explained, his eyes hidden under the shadow of his hood. "I cast the boat off into the Arno, lighting it on fire." My heart seemed to stop at his words. "That way, they wouldn't be confined to some shit hole in the dark," Ezio murmured. "Instead, they'll be drifting on the currents of the water, heading out for a new adventure, even if it's in a small way. I think they would have preferred it that way."

He was right. Giovanni and his sons were much too ambitious to rot in a dirt pile, even in death. They were for excitement, for wonder and secrets. Dancing along the currents of the rivers, the seas, the oceans...I think they would have preferred that, as well. I tilted my chin up. "Can you take me to were you sent them off, then?"

He turned to me and nodded. With that, he continued leading the way around the city walls, wrapping around it until the Arno blocked us from advancing any further. Ezio dropped down the bank, standing near the water's edge. I quickly followed him, finding the spring mud sticking unpleasantly to my boots.

"Here?"

"Here," he confirmed with a nod.

I squatted down, letting my fingers drape into the water, watching how the current made the water bubble up around my intruding digits. I frowned. They were long gone now—far off on the current. Still, I felt some sort of weird connection at that moment, and I bowed my head to think of what I wanted to say to them. I mentally promised Petruccio that I would always look on the bright side just as he had, told Giovanni that he had no worries about Ezio and the creed, and I thought to Federico, while gripping onto the metal necklace, that I always thought about him, and missed him terribly, although I had accepted that he was no longer with me. With that, I stood straight and stared at the water, mesmerized by the bright reflections of light bouncing off of the surface.

Ezio gripped at my elbow. "Let's go."

* * *

We were able to get into the city with no trouble at all. It was strange, really—the last that we had seen of Florence, Ezio had been notorious, eyes always on the watch for him. But now, we could walk in plain sight without even raising any suspicion. It was nice, but it somehow made things more...intimidating. It was only a matter of time before hell would break loose.

"Do we want to stop by any other place before we go to Leonardo's?" I wondered to Ezio. "Maybe we should visit Paola, too."

"If we're here for a target," Ezio pointed out, "then we'll probably run into her sooner or later. We'll just go to Leonardo's for now."

I deflated. I had been excited to explore the city again, but I guess going straight to the Art workshop would have to do. Besides, there was only time for business—no time for idle fancies.

We were fast approaching the main area of Leonardo's workshop before something shifted in the air, making me stiffen and stop. Something wasn't right.

Without even a second thought, my eyes glanced up and over the crowd, searching. They landed on a man wearing a long robe, almost like a monk's. But the word of God was nowhere in those dark eyes of his. My gut clenched. It was one of those men.

I reached out and grabbed onto Ezio's sleeve. "What?" He asked, looking back at me.

"We have to go," I whispered, afraid the man might hear me. But his black eyes were already trained on me.

"What?"

The man started to move forward, making his way straight for me.

"Run!" I cried out as fear ripped through me, causing me to turn and bolt. Ezio was right behind me, although I could hear his confusion. I was so scared that I scaled the wall of a building and began to travel on the high ground, hoping to lose my pursuer more quickly.

"Narina, what are you harping about? Stop!" Ezio was very upset that I was making him run full speed, but I wasn't about to take any chances. I ran across a few more rooftops before I skidded to a halt, nearing toppling over when Ezio bashed into the back of me. "Are you crazy?" He demanded.

But I wasn't. In front of us, on the rooftop across the street, stood three men, holding weapons and seemingly waiting for us. A trap.

"_Merda_," I muttered, backing up further into Ezio, glancing around my ally. Behind us was the man in the robes, his deadly eyes still trained on me.

Seeing the new danger, Ezio shifted so that I was behind him from both sides. "Who the hell are these people?" He asked, words grinding out between his teeth.

"It's those men that were trying to capture me before all those years ago."

"Now?" Ezio's face was marred by a frown. "Just our luck."

None of the men even said anything, but they all moved simultaneously, their steps in synch with each other as the made running starts to jump onto our rooftop. Ezio had drawn his blade, poising it in front of him as he prepared to fight. I would have, too, but the fear had struck me so deep that I couldn't even move. Although I had no idea what these men would do to me if they caught me, I knew that it wasn't good.

One of them attacked, a small dagger in his hand, to which Ezio deflected with ease. However, when Ezio tried to swing back, the man gracefully dodged and stopped a distance away, a smile on his face. That was never a good sign. A few more attacked, Ezio dodging or deflecting each attack, but he was soon running out of energy, something strange to see since he had spent years perfecting his fighting.

"We have to go,"I urged him, gripping onto his arm. "They are too skilled—we'll never win."

Ezio shot a glance at me, the gold in his eyes filled with concern as he realized that I was right. Ezio may have spent years on his form, but these men had probably spent _decades_ with blades in their hands. Then the assassin tucked me under his arm as he bolted, using his blade to clear a path for him as he dropped down to the ground, landing with a terrible thud that sent us both rolling to the ground. But we were up in a flash, forgetting about our scratched skin and ran with each other. Our enemies followed behind us, but at a more leisure pace that made me realize that no matter how far we ran, they would always find us.

As we weaved between the buildings and made several loops, the men behind us were no longer in sight. We stooped down the shadows of some crates by an outdoor market and waited for a long moment, holding our breath. Ezio held me tighter to him.

"I think we lost them," I whispered.

He nodded in hesitation. "_Si_. Still, we should be careful."

As we stood from our crates, Ezio gazed around to get an idea of where we were. "I had forgotten about those men," I whispered, my eyes locked on the rooftops. "Why do they suddenly show up now?"

"There's no way of telling." Ezio tilted his head. "Come. Let's hurry to Leonardo before we run into them again."

As we walked through the streets, blending in with the crowds to avoid any unwanted attention, Ezio suddenly stopped in front of a house, staring up at it as his eyes peered up from the shadows.

"What is it?"

He looked away. "Nothing."

Turning my head, I gazed at the building, trying to remember what it was from Federico's small tours. The realization hit me, and I couldn't help but feel so sad for Ezio. "Cristina's?"

For a long moment, he didn't say anything. But he finally sighed and shrugged. "Yeah."

"Do you want to say hi?" I asked, knowing that he must have missed his lover over the past few years.

"We don't have time," he argued.

"Oh, please," I scoffed. "Just go say hi to her—we can spare a few minutes of our time. Leonardo isn't even expecting us anyway."

He hesitated. Why was he so scared to go see her? "Fine," he murmured, turning on his heel. He walked back into the alleyway that wound around the house, and I followed behind at a distance. Ezio knelt to pick up a small pebble, which he rolled around in the palm of his hand as he studied it. Then, gripping it between two fingers, he flung it at the high window, a loud 'tink' echoing throughout the narrow path.

"Cristina!" Ezio called out.

After a few seconds, the lock on the window resonated out and then the glass panes swung open. "Ezio!"

Despite Ezio being hesitant before, he actually smiled up at her, reaching up and taking off his hood. "_Salute_."

"Give me a moment—I will be right down." The windows shut again, and I realized that I didn't want Cristina to see me, lest that give her the wrong idea. I gave Ezio a nod and climbed up onto the building nearby. Right as I clamored over the top, Cristina came running out into the alleyway, her arms spread wide as her dress swayed around her legs. Ezio caught her in a hug and they both sat there for a long moment, lost in the embrace.

"What are you doing here?" Cristina finally asked, backing away from him and staring up at him with wide eyes. "I thought you dead—I haven't seen you for years!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, shaking his head. "I've been busy. I could not find the time to come back and visit you."

"Oh Ezio." She hugged him again, tears streaming down her face. But I noticed that they weren't happy tears. She looked completely devastated.

"What is the matter?" Ezio asked, obviously sensing that the girl was troubled.

She shook her head into his chest before she looked up at him. "Ezio, my father... he... I am to be married very soon."

Ezio stiffened. "What?"

"An arranged marriage," she explained. "As soon as your family was gone, he began making all of these arrangements. I am going to be married to a man named Manfreo in a very short time." Ezio pulled her into a hug again, laying his head down on hers. I felt so sad for him. He must have been torn between duty and desire.

He pulled away to hold her face between his strong hands, pressing his mouth to her's as she clung to him. Something about the whole thing made me feel unsettled, and I felt the need to look away.

"Live a good life, Cristina," he muttered into her lips before he swooped away.

Cristina looked utterly lost, her mouth hanging open while her hand hung in the air. "Ezio!" She called out. He didn't listen and strode off into the plazas. I didn't stick around long enough to watch Cristina collapse0, but I heard her sobbing, devastated and alone. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew no way of doing so.

Ezio's strides were long and dutiful—I wondered what the hell he was doing. I followed him from the rooftops. He had forgotten about me.

I'm not sure how he knew, but he strode up to a man standing in a large crowd, grabbed him by his collar, and dragged him to the shadow of a building. I was close enough to hear Ezio growl under his breath.

"Do you love her?" He demanded, shaking the man.

"Who? What's going on?"

"Cristina! Do you love her!" Ezio sounded frantic, almost desperate. The man must have been Manfreo.

"Yes! I do!" Manfreo responded back quickly.

"You will treat her well and protect her," Ezio demanded, letting go of the man but holding up a threatening finger. "Or else I will kill you—do you understand?"

"Yes, _Signore_!" The man bowed his head. "You have my word!"

"Good!" Ezio gave the man a long stare before he swooped away, trudging down the streets again, leaving Manfreo to sigh in relief and watch after the white hood. I dropped down to the ground and followed after Ezio on foot, running to catch up with him in his tirade of emotions.

"Ezio. Ezio!" I reached out and grabbed onto his arm, ceasing his advance. "Wait!"

He did indeed stop, but he didn't look down at me, his golden eyes pinned on the wall of a far building. I caught my breath, pushing Ezio so that we were standing off to the side of the street.

"Are you sure about this?" I wondered, looking up at him. When he didn't respond, I continued. "If you want to be with her, Ezio, then go get her. You don't have to sacrifice everything for this creed."

Ezio shook his head. "I can't drag her into this," he whispered. "She deserves a perfect life, a family, living in safety and love. I can't drag her into this mess."

"I'm sure she would be fine," I pointed out. "You don't get it, do you? She loves you—she'd probably go to the end of the world with you, as long as you were there for her."

"I don't want her to have to make that sacrifice for me," Ezio argued, his eyes flashing down to mine in anger and desperation. "I don't want for her life to be spent just so that I can continue this duty." His jaw clenched. "That's why I wanted to leave you."

I shook my head. "What do you mean?"

"When I was going to go to Spain. I didn't want to go with me because I felt like you need to go out and live your life too, Narina. You're a beautiful, young woman. You need to be getting married and having a family of your own. I can't stand the thought that I'm dragging you into this chaos."

"Dragging me?" I shook my head, spreading out my arms. "Ezio, I'm _following_ you into all of this chaos! You're not forcing me to do anything! You're trying to make life decisions for others, which is not how it should be. Cristina wants to be with you! I'm certain of it."

"She'll be happier this way," he muttered, looking away.

Sighing, I dropped my hands. "You don't know that."

"I do." Ezio shook his head. "She's too delicate for this life of hatred and murder, blood and loss. She deserves all the joys in life. Joys that I can't give her."

At that moment, I realized he was right. Ezio could never devote himself to just one person, could he? His whole life was now the foundation for millions of others. Cristina was too delicate to chase after him, to follow him wherever he went. I felt like I needed to teach her how, but then again, that wouldn't be enough for her. She would want a life with him. She would want kids. A family. Love. Forever in their hold. Forever was something that Ezio could never give. Not now.

And I understood that. Which was why I was able to follow him.

"If you think this best," I whispered, reaching out and holding onto his arm. I wasn't stupid enough to think that Ezio didn't want it too. I'm sure that he would have loved to settle down with Cristina and have a family with her someday. But the assassin part of him knew that it was a reward that he didn't deserve. "But know that you aren't alone, Ezio. We fight together."

He glanced up at me, finally calmed. Then, with a small, thankful smile, he reached out and took a hold of my shoulder. "I know. And I thank you for it, friend."

I nodded, dropping my arm, and smiling in return. "Then let's go."

* * *

**So I've decided that there are going to be changes in this story. BIG changes. Nothing that'll change the main plot, but yes. Changes. **

**What kind of changes? Changes that are going to RIP OUT YOUR SOUL. What other kind of changes are there, really? :3 **

**But seriously. All of you must know by now that I am an extremely sadistic person. If I want to tear your heart out, stomp on it, and shove it back in your chest, I'm going to do it. Ohhh the drama! :D I'm pretty excited about it all!**

**In other news, you are ALL going to have a biiig surprise next chapter. :3 For most of you, it will be a good thing. And I'm super excited about it too! :D Changes are fun!**

**Thanks for reading and do please review!**


	11. Hunting Down The Fox

**-Big surprise! YAY!  
-This is a longer chapter than usual. Hoorah! :3**

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
****Mimi. Loves .Soul (sorry for the spaces-it wouldn't let me keep the name without them. :C)  
****sofarsogood99901  
****Leelo  
****CelestialStorm  
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****Chisu-chan  
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****shippolove844  
****Liliesshadow**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Hunting Down The Fox**

* * *

Ezio knocked on Leonardo's door and we waited a long moment, waiting for the artist to answer the door. I was so excited to see the artist again, I was grinning ear to ear as we stared at the door. The knob finally rattled and in a another second, Leonardo was standing in front of us, pleasantly surprised.

"Ezio! Narina!" He stepped forward and hugged both of us, cramming us to his chest in a big hug. "It is so good to see you again! It's been years! I see that they haven't changed you much."

"It's good to see you as well, Leonardo." Ezio reached up and pulled off his hood as we walked into the workshop.

"Tell me, what have you two been doing these past two years?"

"Training." Ezio seemed to inflate with pride. "I've mastered many techniques with blades and battle."

"Wonderful!" Leonardo clasped his hands together. "So what brings you back to _Firenze_, hm? Business?"

Ezio nodded. "Yes. I have another codex page for you to look at."

"_Si, si!_" Leonardo held out his hand expectantly, and Ezio fished out the scroll, placing it in the painter's hand. He opened it up immediately gazing over the parchment. "Hmm. This is in the same code as the last. This will take no time at all. Please, come and sit!" Leonardo took the codex to the work table while Ezio and I went to the chairs aside the desk. "This is quite fascinating," Leonardo said in a very excited tone. "It looks like this will be new techniques for your blade, Ezio!"

"Great!" Ezio grinned.

Only after a few minutes, Leonardo had the sketches depicted out with instructions to go with the techniques. During Leonardo's decoding, the artist had claimed that there were new designs for another hidden blade. "If you give me time to make the blade, I can have it done for you by the end of the day."

"_Va bene_. In the meantime, I will try out these new techniques."

"A brilliant plan! I'll have my assistant set up some straw dummies for you out in the courtyard."

"Thanks again, Leonardo."

"Anytime."

As Ezio left the building, Leonardo called out to the back of the shop, a young man appearing around the corner. He couldn't have been older than I was. Once the artist told the man what to do, the assistant ran out the door to go help Ezio.

I lifted a brow, smirking at Leonardo. "An assistant? You're moving up, Leonardo!"

"Yes, yes, I know!" Leonardo laughed. "If you wouldn't mind, Narina, may I ask of your assistance as well?"

"Of course."

"If I'm to have this blade done tonight, I'm need you to do a few of my errands for me."

"Alright. What do you need done?"

Leonardo handed me a small slip of paper along with a small pouch of money, a shopping list of supplies that he might need in order to construct the blade. "After you get back from shopping, I was hoping that you could perhaps make some deliveries for me?"

"_Certo!_" I took the list and walked out of the shop, looking over the items written out on the paper. As I walked past the small courtyard, I gazed in there, watching as Ezio and the assistant were setting up straw filled dummies all over the courtyard, Ezio looking over the codex. I couldn't help but smile at seeing how excited he was to learn new things. Bringing my attention back to the list, I went to the market not too far away and bought all the items on the list, finding it actually nice to do something normal. I kept my guard up, however—there were people after me, and although I had spent years training, I wouldn't be able to properly protect myself.

Back at the workshop, Leonardo thanked me and immediately went to constructing the new blade for Ezio. There was a box near the door full of paintings. "You need to take it to the Carlieas family that lives in the northern part of town. It's a great big building next to the Duomo."

Heaving the box into my arms, finding it a lot heavier than I expected, I made my way out of the door. Ezio was still in the courtyard, perched high on the wall nearby as him and Leonardo's assistant discussed what the codex was describing. Shifting the weight of the box, I went through the map of Florence that I had made in my brain and turned towards the Duomo. I tried to avoid the crowds so that I wouldn't drop the paintings, but it was hard—there were so many people out and enjoying the turn of the seasons. I ended up having to take the back alleys for a safe travel.

When I got to the grand Duomo building, I opted to ask one of the men standing there were the family house was. They pointed to a large house across the way, and I hauled the box over to the door. After I set it down, I knocked on the door and waited patiently, heaving the box up again.

A small man dressed in servant clothing opened the door and stared down at me with beady eyes.

"I have a delivery from Leonardo Da Vinci for the Carlieas family."

"Ah yes. Please, do come in." I stepped into the grand hall, everything made out of polished stone and marble. These people were _rich_. "If you would follow me." The man led me down the long hall, through a set of giant doors that swung open into a cozy study, filled bookshelves lining the walls, leaving only a space for a finely decorated couch to push against the wall. On that couch was a young man, perhaps my age, if not younger. He gazed up at me as we walked in. "You may set the painting on the desk, and I will go fetch my master." The servant left, leaving me with the young man, who watched me curiously.

He set his book aside. "Are those the paintings from Da Vinci?"

I sat the heavy box on the desk that was placed by the window. "_Si_."

"Are they beautiful?"

"You have to understand that anything Leonardo creates is beautiful," I replied with a smile, trying to bolster the artist's popularity.

"So it is safe to assume that he carved and sculpted you, then?" I paused, assessing his crooked smirk, the way one of his heavy brows lifted suggestively. He was charming, I decided, but nothing compared to what the Auditore's could dish out.

"No such luck, _Messer_."

He stood from the couch, making me realize that he was a lot taller than I was, maybe even taller than Ezio. Definitely lankier, but still. "My name is Lucio, _signorina_. What is the name of Da Vinci's new assistant?"

"Oh no. I'm just a friend of his." I shook the man's hand. "My name is Narina."

His dark brows knitted together. "Narina? A strange name, if a might say."

I didn't like the way touching him made me feel. It was like I almost felt threatened. Taking my hand back, I stepped back, leaning against the desk. "Yeah, well, it is what it is."

"Indeed." His eyes dropped down my body, and I felt my defenses go up. I realized that he was looking at me like I was some object rather than a person. "Do you live here in Florence?"

"No," I answered immediately, wanting to get out of there, feeling like he was cornering me. "I'm just passing through to...uh, visit Leonardo."

His eyes flashed back up to mine. He didn't believe me.

Before he could question me further, another burly man came through the door. "Ah yes! Da Vinci's paintings!" He handed me a large pouch filled with golden florins. "_Grazie_, and tell Da Vinci that I appreciate his work!" The father, I assumed, opened the box and started to dig through the paintings.

"Well, yes. I best be away." I made my escape through the door, going back out into the hallway.

"I'll see you again someday, Narina," Lucio called after me. I shivered, not even looking back at him. He scared me and I didn't even know why.

Once outside, I took a deep daft of the fresh air, trying to clear out the fear, but ultimately glad that I was out of the house. I looked up, my eyes landing on the Bordella located behind the Duomo. Deciding that I could stop by Paola's and ask about Francesco before I went back to Leonardo's, I headed in the direction of the flowing cloths. As I took a step into the busy plaza, however, I stopped dead in my tracks. Then wheeling around, briskly walking away.

"You've got to be kidding me," I mumbled, bowing down my head. Just my luck to run into trouble by myself. Glancing over my shoulder, fear bolted through me when I saw that dark hood coming right after me. "_Merda_," I cursed, pushing through the crowd faster. By the time I reached the edge of the plaza, I was running, my heart driving just as fast as my feet.

Looking back over my shoulder as I ran, I saw the dark hood still behind me, running right after me. He was a lot faster than I, his strides doubling mine. Fear made my breaths even more unsteady than they were from the exertion. I wasn't going to get away. And that was okay. My jaw clenched as I realized that I knew how to fight now. Stopping dead in my tracks, I whirled around and pulled out a dagger from my hip, poising it in front of me.

The man stopped about twenty feet away, his strong jaw peeping out of his hood, his dark eyes peering deadly at me.

"What do you want from me?" I demanded, people around seeing my blade and quickly stepping aside, a small crowd forming. "Why are you following me?"

He didn't answer. He just smirked and pulled out a blade hidden under his robes.

I took a deep breath, looking back on all of my training the past years. Angling the blade in my hand, I lurched forward, prepared to strike. I wasn't sure what happened, but, in one sudden movement, my blade was knocked out of my hand, and I was seized, my arm twisted up behind my back. Crying out, I struggled, but my twisted arm hurt so much that I ceased. Then I was being dragged, heading towards the shadows of the buildings. "No!" I cried out. "_Basta!_" The crowd just started at me, none of them stepping forward. "Please! Help!" I begged, but they all looked away, letting me be taken into the shadows. I felt like crying. Ezio. Please, Ezio, come help me!

Suddenly I was pushed away, hitting into the building. Looking over my shoulder, I nearly wept with relief when I saw the familiar white robes. My enemy was standing still, his dark eyes trained to the beaked hood of my savior, his face blank. I noticed that there was a blade sunk into his stomach, and I heaved a breath. I was saved.

The dark hooded man fell to the ground in a heap, leaving the white hood as victor. But as I studied those white robes, I suddenly realized that it wasn't Ezio standing in front of me. I turned, pressing my back against the wall as I realized that I could still be in danger, although I felt not nearly as scared with the white hooded man.

He turned to me. "Are you alright?" He had dark skin, just like many of the men following me, and his eyes were a deep brown. His chin was dusted with dark, black stubble, his face strong.

I stared at him, slowly nodding. "I...thank you."

A smile appeared on his face. "You don't have to worry. I'm an Assassin too."

I sighed with relief. "I see."

"Ezio leaves you alone for ten minutes and you get in trouble." He was still grinning, shaking his head.

"Do you know Ezio?"

"Not personally. I knew his father for a short time."

That made sense. It seemed that all assassins knew Giovanni.

"You're Narina, correct?" I nodded in response. "Good. It's great to finally meet you."

I shook my head as he took my hand into his, pressing his lips to the back of my hand. "How do you know about me?"

"I know a lot of things," he explained, grinning widely at me. "I know that we need to get you off of the streets right now. I'll take you back to Leonardo's for now."

Even if he was an ally, I felt scared that he knew exactly what I was doing, how long I was away for, where I was staying. It didn't make any sense. He put a protective arm around me and led me away from the shadows.

I gazed up at him, a little suspicious. "And your name?"

His dark eyes flashed down at me, his lips slightly upturning. "My name is Tamair."

* * *

The workshop came into view. I nearly ran for it, finding the safety that it promised almost too good to be true. Tamair led me to the courtyard of the shop, where Ezio was still standing with the assistant, looking over the codex. Before I could approach the two, Tamair grabbed my arm and stopped me from advancing, shaking his head when I looked up at him. We stood at the entrance of the yard until Ezio looked over his shoulder at us.

I saw him tense, turning slowly. "Narina." He glanced at Tamiar. "What did she do?" That caused a frown to appear on my face. It was always my fault, wasn't it?

"She hasn't done a thing, actually," Tamair said with a friendly smile. "She was actually almost taken by men dressed in dark robes. I suggest that you need to start protecting her in a more proper fashion." Despite Tamair's pleasant tone, both Ezio and I noticed the underlying snide sound that made the words insincere.

Ezio, leaving the assistant and page, took a step towards us, his golden eyes narrowing. "And who are you?"

"Please forgive me." Tamair swooped into a deep bow. "My name is Tamair. I'm a brother that comes from the Holy Lands. And you are Giovanni's son, Ezio Auditore. I've heard much about you."

Ezio inclined his chin. "You're an assassin, then?"

"Yes." Tamair reached up and pulled down his hood, letting it rest against his shoulders. His hair was jet black, shining in the light, making him look brooding and dark. "My ancestor actually helped rebuild the Creed that we live by today."

"So you have a long lineage." Ezio didn't seem impressed, folding his arms.

"Yes." Tamair then gestured to the codex page being held by the assistant. "If you find that all the answers are not in the pages hidden here in Italy, then I implore you to find me. With my help, we can travel back to the holy land and find the documents that have been lost there. I'm sure there is much information to be dug up."

"Maybe so," Ezio countered, "but I don't think it's our job to do so. You go to the Holy Land. You find the pages there. We'll take care of Italy."

Tamair raised his hands up like Ezio had physically attacked him. "It was simply an offer, brother. If you feel that you need to do something more, then come to me.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ezio spat. "In any case, thanks for saving Narina. We have a lot to do."

Tamair nudged me, and I immediately went to Ezio's side; once I was there, Ezio immediately put an arm out in front of me as if to protect me from my savior. "Take some advice, friend," Tamair mused, "and never let her be taken. Not only do you have a promise to your brother, but she's been entrusted to you." Both Ezio and I stared in silent wonder. How the hell did he know about Federico and Ezio's agreement? Tamair took a step back, reaching up and pulling the hood over his face. "And remember: if you want to find out secrets of our creed, the Holy Land holds the answers. I live here in Florence for now, in the house right next to the Northern Cathedral. Come and find me."

"Thanks," Ezio said curtly, his eyes narrowing.

Tamair's eyes landed on me, and he grinned. "It was a pleasure, Narina."

"Y-you too," I whispered, realizing that he reminded me of someone, though I didn't know who. I bowed. "Thanks again for saving me."

"Anytime that I am able, I promise." With that, he swooped around and went back down the streets, his white hood disappearing in the crowds.

Ezio looked down at me. "You just _had_ to go man hunting, didn't you?"

"Excuse me?" I exclaimed, puffing up. "He just saved my ass from those men who are trying to kill me! A hell of a lot better than what you were doing!"

"He isn't trustworthy," Ezio argued. "He could be our enemy in disguise!"

"Oh, please!" I folded my arms. "You're so paranoid."

Ezio opened his mouth to argue further, but a voice cut him off. "Ezio, have you finished looking at the codex?" Leonardo was at the entrance of the courtyard, smiling brightly at us.

Ezio looked back at the assistant, who was already holding out the paper. "Er, yes." Ezio took the codex, and went to Leonardo.

"Fantastic! If you would come with me inside, then. I need to make some measurements around your arm."

Ezio went to follow him, but, as if suddenly remembering something, he spun around and looked straight at me. "You're coming with."

I inclined my chin. At least one thing that Tamair said had gotten through to Ezio. The assassin made sure that I was in front of him before we went into the shop.

* * *

It was around evening when Leonardo finally got the hidden blade finished, the metal work beautiful yet practical. Ezio went back out into the courtyard to try his new blade, and I watched him test his new skills. As I sat in a haystack that was piled there in the corner, I looked up at the dark sky, staring at the shining dots, making my own patterns among them.

"Should we go talk to Paola?" I asked him, keeping my eyes on the sky.

Ezio looked down at me from his perch upon the side of the building. "Talk about what?"

"You know, looking for this Francesco guy. I'm sure that he knows that we're coming for him, especially since Vieri's death. He's probably in hiding."

"We'll have to lay low and wait for the perfect opportunity, then."

"Or," I offered, "we could cheat and go to Paola. She has eyes all over the city."

Ezio heaved a breath before he swung off of his perch, gracefully maneuvering his way down the building before sinking his two hidden blades into the straw dummy. "I don't know, Narina," he admitted. "I feel like we should try to do this on our own."

"But why?" I titled my head. "This isn't a game that we're playing, Ezio."

"I know." He straightened and looked over at me. "I'd feel more accomplished with the latter, that is all."

"Ah." I sat up, shaking so that the hay would fall off of me. "Well, I say we go for the easier route and talk with Paola. She'll know where to go from here."

"Fine," he muttered, approaching me as I stood up, brushing the hay off of me. "But we can't depend on others all of the time. We need to gain our own footing."

"Right." I stretched, lifting my arms into the air.

"Perhaps we'll go over tomorrow," Ezio said, watching me. "You seem tired."

I purred under my breath and nodded. "Yeah. Besides, I think Leonardo was pretty excited to have us over again."

"True." Ezio chuckled as we walked out of the courtyard. "He would be very sad if we did not stay."

I laughed too. "Can you imagine the pleading look he'd give us? Aw, we'd be but butter under his gaze."

As Ezio agreed, there was a loud noise from the shadows of the building across the way. Both Ezio and I stopped in our tracks, our laughter vanishing, and our eyes locked onto the shadows. Slowly, I looked up at him, my brow knitting in worry.

His jaw tightened as he drew and arm around me, leading me in the direction of Leonardo's door. The streets weren't as carefree as I remembered them. Florence had changed.

* * *

Before we left for Paola's the next day, Leonardo told us that, in order to find the optimal way to find Francesco, was to find a man that went by the name "La Volpe". Although the artist didn't know where to find the man, he was certain that Paola would be the one to know.

Upon arriving at the Bordella, we were greeted by several giggling women, all swooning over "how much Ezio had grown in the past two years". I ignored them and dragging Ezio inside, intent on finding Paola. When finding the woman, she greeted us with hugs and kisses, telling us that it was wonderful that we were back in Florence. When we asked her about La Volpe, however, she shook her head.

"He is all over the city," she explained. "There's no way to find him. If need be, _he_ finds _you_."

"Well, that's just wonderful," Ezio groaned, reached up and scratching at his head. "This is going to take a long time, then, isn't it?"

"If La Volpe feels that you need to speak with him, he'll approach you. It may take a long time, but then it may not."

Pouting, I folded my arms and cocked my hip. "Is there any way that we can get a message to him? To let him know that we're looking for him?"

"I'm sure that he already knows," Paola admitted. "Give it time. He will come."

Thanking the woman for her time, Ezio and I left. With nothing else to do, we decided to try and look for the man anyway, despite Paola's warnings that we would find nothing.

* * *

And as we searched, we _did_ find absolutely nothing.

The irony in the whole thing was quite funny, actually; we were kidding before about how Leonardo would love for us to stay and would be sad if we didn't, but, as the months rolled by, we realized that Leonardo probably just wanted us out of his shop. We moved to Paola's after a few months of being in Florence, the summer coming into swing, but that was a bad idea on my part. I was up most of the nights, listening to all of the noises you'd expect to hear in a brothel. The days would be so hot that we wouldn't be able to search for our man most of the time. There was no way to beat the heat besides swimming; but the Arno was much too gross to swim in.

Ezio stormed into my room one day, the sun setting in the sky. Startled, I looked up from the paper that I had been scribbling a letter to Claudia on. "What is it?" I asked, seeing that he was upset.

"Waiting around for this fox isn't working," Ezio exclaimed. "We need to go out and do this ourselves. We've been in Florence for well over four months—we cannot wait any longer."

Sighing, I put down the quill. "Well, what do you want to do about it then?"

"We'll ask around ourselves," Ezio explained, " and figure out where to find Francesco from the people. They are bound to know something."

"That will just give away our position," I argued, my lips twisting together. "Asking the people will give Francesco the chance to realize that we're coming for him."

Ezio mimicked my pout. "Maybe we'll get lucky."

"That's a lot to put on a 'maybe'." We had a stare-down, neither of us backing down.

Finally, Ezio stepped into the room to come grab me by my arm. "Then humor me. Just this once."

"Fine." I stood up, shaking away his hand. "But I'm telling you, we're not going to get anywhere."

Giving me a look, Ezio reached out for me again, placing his hand between my shoulder blades as he guided me out of the door as if he were afraid I would try and run for it. Which was a great idea, but there was no way I was going to get away. I didn't want a super skilled assassin chasing after me anyway.

As it turned out, we really didn't go fox hunting. We went women hunting. I think it might have had something to do with Ezio finally letting Cristina go, but he totally started whoring up—more so than he had been before. If he wasn't out looking for La Volpe, then he would be back at the Bordella with the courtesans, doing things that I didn't even want to begin to think about. So as we were going through the markets, Ezio suddenly broke from me and took a sharp right, where a group of young woman stood in a circle, all giggling. I stopped and stared at him exasperatedly. He had lowered his hood, and was talking to all of them with that charming grin of his, the pink welt stretching with his mouth. I pouted, looked around, and sat down on a nearby bench, deciding to wait out his flirtations. Leave it to Ezio to not take the whole thing seriously. A thought occurred to me that he might have been flirting some information out of the women, but, with another observation, that was very improbable judging by the way they all giggled and their cheeks flaring red. Rolling my eyes and huffing, I folded my arms and looked up at the sky, judging how many hours that I would have to deal with this.

As I looked up at the sky, my gaze caught onto a figure standing up on the rooftops. A man stood up on the peak of the roof, a brown hood pulled over his head. Dread washed through me. It was one of those men, wasn't it? But on closer analysis, my fear dripped away, and was overridden with realization that the man was staring down right at me, smiling, waving his hand at me. Then he turned and swooped away, running across the rooftops.

_La Volpe!_

"Ezio!" I yelled shooting up. "Ezio, we...! Let's go!" Completely ignored me, Ezio turned his back to me, pretending that he wasn't the 'Ezio' I was calling to. Fed up and realizing that my window of opportunity was slipping away, I took off without him, scaling up the building despite the many startled comments from the people on the streets. I wasn't going to let this fox get away—I had spent to many days walking on my poor, calloused feet to let him slip away.

Upon the rooftops, I followed after the figure a few houses ahead of me, far enough away that I couldn't quite make out the designs on his clothes. Taking a deep breath, I began to run after him, jumping from roof to roof, hauling myself up smaller obstacles, and skittering across ropes drawn tight between buildings. I watched the man finally drop down after we had gone across the entire city. I quickly followed, out of breath as my arms shook with the over exertion. I had never done so much climbing before. As I dropped safely down to the ground, in a small courtyard were no one was in, I looked around and spotted the brown hood in the shadows of the corner. I sat there, staring at the man, heaving in unsteady breaths.

"You," I huffed, "you are La Volpe."

He smiled as he stepped forward, his violet eyes shining even in the shade of his hood. "_Si_. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Narina."

Go figure. He knew my name. "You sure took your sweet time," I muttered.

"I waited for the perfect opportunity for Francesco to be hunted," he explained. "He knows you come from him, and therefore, he is quite aloof. I am suspecting that now is the best time to strike."

I didn't understand. "Why now?"

"I'm not entirely sure what it is that he plans, but I know it will give him a great opening for...hmm..." He was gazing up at the rooftops. "Ezio did not follow you."

"He was busy easing the ache in his pants," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Ah." He didn't seemed surprised. "Then you'll have to tell him our plan, for I must go back into my stealth very soon. Come. I must show you something."

I followed the man out of the courtyard, into the bustling streets. We went against the flow of the crowd, the man leading me towards a large building. "They plan on having a meeting, you see," La Volpe explained as we stopped in front of the giant building. "Underneath here, the Santa Maria Novella."

"Underneath?" I didn't quite understand what he was getting at. "So there's some secret path to get there or something?"

"Not for them," he said, "but for us, yes. When Ezio is able, you and him are to go through a secret path that only we know of. Once you are in there, you will be able to listen to the meeting and get a gist of what their plans are."

"Right." I nodded. "How do we get to this secret path?"

Waving for me to follow him, we went to the side of the building, the white stone towering over us. "There is a secret door here," he whispered as if afraid we were being spied on. His foot nonchalantly tapped on a stone square beneath us. It looked like a simple stone, so I shook my head. "It may not seem like much," he offered, smirking, "but have Ezio use his blade to pry at the edge. Once he has done so, the stone will be moveable. Set it aside and there will be a hole that drops down into the catacombs of the church."

I shivered, not liking the idea of ducking around in the dark.

"I must be off," the man spoke in a breath. "Once the task is done, you and Ezio are to meet me back at Leonardo's courtyard."

I nodded. "_Va bene_. Now all I have to do is go get the pig."

La Volpe chuckled under his breath. "Good luck, Narina." He turned and went with the crowd, disappearing within seconds. Heaving a sigh, I suddenly realized that I had no idea where to go from here. I hadn't exactly kept track while I was chasing after the fox anyway. Choosing a direction, I followed the line of people all flowing through the streets, keeping my mind on the task at hand. We were finally on to something.

It ended up being a very nice thing that I didn't know where I was because it was fun to be able to explore Florence again. Although it seemed silly, I found it odd that all of the buildings were in the same places, like I had expected them to get up and move along in life like the rest of us were expected to. I finally got to plaza's that were more familiar, and I was soon on my way back to the bordella, assuming that I would meet up with Ezio there sooner or later. However, stepping into the next plaza over, I saw his white hood, higher than the rest of the crowd, jerking around as if he were an eagle looking for prey. He was standing on the fountain there, gazing over the crowd quickly. His golden eyes flashed to me, the relief washing through his entire body.

Then he was pushing through the crowd toward me. As he came closer, I opened my mouth to begin explaining what La Volpe had told me, but I was cut off when I was crushed to his chest, his arms tight around me.

"Thank God you're okay!" he breathed. Then he roughly held me away at arms length. "Don't run off! There's men out to kill you, silly girl! Jesus, I was afraid that they had taken you and..." He faded off, pulling me back to him.

I stood there, confused for some weird reason. He had been concerned about me. Why was that so shocking? It didn't make sense. My arms automatically wrapped around him for a moment, enjoying his warmth so much, before I pushed away, looking up at him. "No, I'm sorry. I ran off because..." I grinned, taking a step back. "I found La Volpe!"

"You did?" Ezio was genuinely surprised, and I felt smug that I had actually been able to do something to help. I told Ezio the plan as we made our way back towards the Santa Maria Novella, what La Volpe had told me. He nodded with my explanations, understanding what our goal was. At the giant building once again, I went back to the stone square by the side, and told Ezio to use his blade to pull it up. Much like La Volpe had told me, the stone shifted and moved, revealing a dark hole that dropped into complete darkness.

I swallowed. "You get to jump first," I whispered.

His eyes flashed up at me. "Fine." He sat down at the edge and dropped his legs down into the hole, taking a deep breath. Then he dropped, making my heart stop as he disappeared into the black void.

"Ezio!" I cried out, afraid that he could actually die.

"Narina," he called back, his voice echoing. "It's safe. Drop down—I'll catch you."

A breath hitched in my throat as I realized that I had no reason to not drop down. Steeling myself and telling myself that I could do I, I dropped my feet over the edge as well. Even though every fiber of my body told me not to jump, I finally did, free-falling for about two seconds before I crashed into something hard, and I was rolling on the ground, a great weight landing on top of me.

The weight shifting. "Are you okay?" Ezio was over me, looking all over me to make sure I wasn't bleeding.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for breaking my fall."

"Anytime." He helped me stand up, and the light that poured down through the hole we just jumped through was suddenly cut off, the stone falling back into place. I assumed that it had to have been La Volpe, closing the hole so that others wouldn't wander over and fall in.

Ezio's guard was up completely as our eyes began to readjust to the lack of light. "Let's move," he whispered, taking a hold of my wrist and dragging me behind him. As my vision started to slowly come back, I realized that we were going through the long halls of the catacombs. I pulled myself to walk closer to Ezio, feeling a little uneasy. Finally, we went through a dark hall and entered a large room, looking much like the ruins of a destroyed chapel. The path that we were on went along the side of the room, angling up and around, leading to a large hole in the wall. The path, however, didn't reach that large hole—it had collapsed in the middle, making getting to the hole impossible to get to.

"Come." Ezio led me up the slope anyway, obviously deciding that there had to be another way. When we got to the broken part of the path, Ezio stopped me, his eyes gazing all about the hole, trying to find some way to cross it. "You think you could make it if I threw you over?"

I had to look at him to make sure he was kidding. "How are we supposed to get over there?"

"We could scale the walls and inch our way over there," Ezio suggested. "Or, we could jump."

"Jump?" I gauged the distance. "I don't think we can jump that far."

"Well, try."

I prickled. "Why do I have to go first?"

"Well, if you can make it, I can make it."

He was secretly undermining me, I just knew it. "No, I'm not going to risk my life on a stupid jump."

My arm was taken into his large hand. "Then get on my back."

"You can't make the jump with me on your back, idiot," I snapped.

"But then if we fall, we fall together."

I looked up at him, catching his gaze. He stared down at me for a long moment, some emotion flitting across his face that I didn't recognize. Then he smiled. "We're in this together, right?"

For a long moment, I assessed him, his smile, his words. And I relaxed under his touch, sighing. "Fine. But this isn't going to end well."

"We'll see." He bent slightly so that I could clamor up onto his back, finding it awkward because I was sitting on all of his pouches full of weapons and bottles.

As I found a comfortable spot, Ezio looked back at me over his shoulder. "Hold on tight," he whispered. Nodding, I gripped him with my legs and wrapped my arms around his neck, snuggling down into his shoulder.

"Death is scary," I whispered to him, closing my eyes.

"I know." He moved under me, taking a few steps back I guessed to get a running start. Then he was running, smooth and graceful. My hands clamped into his robes as I readied for the big jump. He grunted and we were flying. There was a sudden jerk and I was nearly thrown off of Ezio, and I cried out, gripping onto him tighter. Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was Ezio's hand gripping the edge of the path, the tendons in his hands sticking out as he held up all the weight.

"Shit," I breathed as we swung back and forth. "Are you okay?"

The hood shook back and forth. "I can't hold on much longer. Can you reach the edge and pull yourself up?"

My arms were still sore from chasing La Volpe. "I could try." Slowly unwrapping my arms from around him, I reached up for the edge, gripping onto it with both hands, finding a good grip. "I think I got it." I gradually took my death-gripping legs from his sides and lifted myself up, my arms trembling the entire time. I nearly slipped once, but I finally clamored up over the edge, breathing out heavily.

I spun around, looking over the edge. "Ezio, give me your hand."

He looked at the delicate hand I was offering, his hood falling back off of his head. He shook his head. "You won't be able to pull me up." He had a point. But I wasn't going to not help.

"Just give it to me." When he didn't, I gripped onto his hand that was holding onto the edge, desperately trying to find a way to help him up. His face scrunched in effort as he brought his other hand up, gripping just as tightly onto the edge. As if he was a small, weak child, I reached down and gripped onto his robes, pulling him up as he lifted himself. When he finally got up on the ledge, we were both out of breath, his robes loose from all of my pulling.

"Stupidest idea ever," I muttered, sitting on my rear end and staring at Ezio as he fell back in the same position as I.

"I can think of stupider," he said with a grin, reaching back and pulling on his hood. He grunted as he pushed himself up, standing high above me. "Come on." He reached down and helped me up.

We went through the large hole, finding ourselves in a very narrow path. Since Ezio was such a broad man, he had to go through sideways. As we inched our way down through the space, Ezio suddenly stopped, raising his hand up to me.

I started a question, but he shushed me, gesturing to his ear. Faintly through the wall, we heard words being spoken, too muffled to make out. Ezio began moving again, eager to find out where the words were coming from. Finally, the narrow hall widened up into a larger one, and there was a hole in the stone where light peeked through. Ezio went to the hole and peered through. More words came flowing through more distinctly, and I pressed against the wall as I concentrated on the voices.

"Bernardo?" A deep voice asked.

"It is all here: swords, spears, axes, armor, bows...our men will want for nothing!"

"I take it that this is all as a confirmation that the Pope has given us his consent?"

There was a stretched silence. "As long as... 'nobody is killed'." Another voice came, causing shivers to drip down my spine.

"Then we are all set. We head to the Duomo in the morning, _Signore_. The bait has been laid, but it wasn't easy. His fool brother keeps changing his plans." I wished I could have seen the meeting, but the hole in the wall was only big enough for Ezio to peer through.

"What is it, Jacopo?" A man asked. "You can't be worried that they suspect something."

"Of course not!" A boisterous voice came. "The Medici are too stupid and arrogant to even realize that we are doing anything."

"Do not underestimate our enemies, Francesco! Must I remind you of your late son?" My breath caught as the image of Vieri came to my mind, throat slit and eyes forever dazed.

"I promise we won't have that problem again, _Signore_. I assure you."

"_Molto bene_. I'll be leaving now, I have other business in Florence before I return to Rome." A short pause as I watched Ezio's jaw clench. "Gentlemen, tomorrow a new sun rises over _Firenze._ May the Father of Understanding guide us."

The rest of them repeated the last line, and then there was a bunch of shuffling, clothes rustling. Ezio backed away from the hole, his brow furrowed. "They're going to attack the Medici. We have to stop them."

"Well, of course!" I stood straight. "Let's get back to Leonardo's—La Volpe said that he would meet us there."

"Right." Ezio continued down the hallway, leading me through darkness. I wasn't sure if we would find our way out, but soon we were in a different room, a small, square room. There were pots all about the room, baskets and other artifacts that were adorn in jewels. In the middle was a large, square stone slab, rich, red clothes draped about the edges.

"What is it?" I wondered aloud.

Ezio stepped forward slowly. "I think it's a casket. This is a tomb."

Something clicked in my brain. "Like...an Assassin tomb? The ones that Mario told us about?" There was a tapestry hanging from the ceiling that had the symbol of the assassins on it, confirming my suspicion.

"Did we really just stumble upon this?" Ezio was in disbelief.

"Where do we find the tome?"

We began poking around, going through the pots and baskets, but there was nothing to be found. After examining under a pile of cloth, I turned and saw Ezio staring down at the casket. "It has to be in there," he murmured. "But the top won't move."

"With the dead person?"I frowned. "Gross."

Ezio ran his hands along the stone surface, moving aside the clothes draped there. "Ah!" His fingers moved quickly and then there was a clicking noise. Standing up straight, Ezio pried open the casket and we both looked in, seeing a cloth wrapped around a human sized figure. But there was no tome.

"Strange," Ezio murmured, his eyes glued to the casket. "There's nothing here."

"Maybe someone else has found them." I frowned, realizing that our task was much harder than we had first thought.

"It doesn't matter." Ezio gazed down at me. "We have to go talk to this fox and figure out a way to save the Medici. They were friends of my family—perhaps they can help us."

I nodded. "Right." The tomes could wait.

We were able to get out of the building by a hidden door behind a tapestry in the small room. The door led to a stone slab that, when pushed, led to the outside on the roof of the Santa Maria Novella. Night had struck the city, and the stars were bright in the sky.

Before we climbed down, I reached out and grabbed onto Ezio's sleeve, making him look back at me.

I stared up into his golden gaze for a long moment. "I think were in for a bigger battle than we know," I whispered.

Ezio nodded, smiling comfortingly. "We can handle it."

"I'm scared."

The smile fell, his scar catching the light of the moon. "I am too."

* * *

**So yeah! Big surprise was meeting Tamair sooner. I want to do more with him this time through, maybe get a little bit more into his story. But I do realize that going into his story is impossible to do with Narina, so I might just have to do a little Tamair bit sometime during this.**

**I am so sick right now. I hate colds so much. :C They make it hard to concentrate, so I'm sorry if this chapter kinda blows ass.**

**Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I go to the same school as any of you. 'Cause if I did, I would totally wanna be your friend! :D**

**Thanks for reading, and please review! :3**


	12. The Unspoken Path

**-Yush. Next chapter, my friends! :D  
****-I'm counting down the days until ACIII. I'm uber excited! :D  
****-Just to be clear, I would love Pifo. You'll understand in a moment.**

**Thanks for reviewing! :  
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****Altamago: **Dearest reviewer Alta...I wanted to reply to your review sooooo bad! :( But you have your messaging disabled, so I couldn't respond! I'm so sorry! :3 You should fix it so we can discuss things and stuff! And just so you don't feel left out, I'm leaving your response here!: Thanks for the nice words, Dear! And although there is some EzioxNarina development in this chapter, there is a specific reason why their relationship is going so slowly, and that fact is actually going to come up in chapters that are coming very soon.  
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* * *

_"These violent delights have violent ends, and, in their triumph, die,  
like fire and powder, which, as they kiss,  
consume."_

- Friar Lawrence, _Romeo and Juliet_, Act II Scene VI

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**The Unspoken Path**

* * *

When we got back to Leonardo's, peeking into the courtyard, La Volpe wasn't there. Leonardo, however, was, and had a message telling us that we wouldn't find The Fox there.

After saying goodnight to Leonardo and thanking him, we headed back to Paola's, ready to rest for the night.

"What do we do now?"I asked, staring up at Ezio.

"The plan still hasn't changed," he answered. "We have to stop Francesco from attacking the Medici at all costs. That's our primary move. After that...well, we'll figure something out."

I nodded. "Right. So we go out to the Medici's tomorrow."

"More or less. I think we—."

A loud bark echoed down the streets, making me jump. "What is that? What?" I hid behind Ezio as shadow came bounding towards us. It was a dog, dark fur and dark eyes, pink tongue lolling. "Ah!" I skittered to the other side of Ezio as the dog tried to lick at my hand. "It's it dangerous? Is it going to kill me?"

Ezio laughed. "It's just a dog, Narina. Calm down."

"Stop!" I slapped Ezio's arm when he went to pet the thing. "It could have...some disease or something! It might be rabid!"  
"No," Ezio hummed, grinning as he knelt down to the ground, scratching the dog behind its floppy ears. "He's just looking for some company."

I shivered as the dog started to lick at Ezio's face. "Where did it come from? I've never seen dogs in Florence!"

"Plenty of people have them," Ezio explained, looking up at me. "I always wanted one, but I never got the chance."

Finally, I relaxed and watched as Ezio cooed to the creature under his breath, the dog still lapping away at Ezio's face, scraping audibly against the stubbly chin. Although it slightly grossed me out, I found it somewhat strange to witness, almost endearing.

"Pifo!" We both looked up, a young woman in a dark red dress running down the street. "There you are!"

Ezio stood up, rubbing the dog's head. "Your dog?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry," the girl said with a shy grin, her golden hair tumbling over her shoulders. "I let him out of the yard and he just ran off as soon as he saw the opening."

"He just wants to explore the city," Ezio said with a grin.

"Yes, but it gets him in so much trouble."

"Ah. I know someone like that." I threw a glare up at Ezio, although he wasn't looking at me. _Asshole_, I thought, looking away. Ezio then proceeded to use his flirtation tactics, making me feel extremely awkward and more peeved than I had been before. As the two of them talked, I watched from the corner of my eye how the dog's ears perked up. Before I could even say a warning, the dog was off, running down the streets.

"Pifo!" The woman cried.

Seeing my opportunity to get away from the two, I waved her off. "I got him, I got him!" I took off after the dog, which seemed to just be aimlessly running through the streets. Despite my attempt to try and give them some time alone, they both followed right behind me, Ezio keeping pace with the woman.

The dog led us through a maze of buildings, charging us through people and gates. Ezio and the girl had fallen far behind so I couldn't glance back over my shoulder and see them anymore. The dog was growing tired, slowing down so that I could catch up. "Pifo!" I called to it. "Please stop! I'm getting tired too, bud!"

The dog ignored me and turned down a alleyway. When I turned down it, a hissing cat suddenly screamed out, running by me. With a loud bark, Pifo came dashing out of a shadow and rammed into me, knocking be back against a low stone wall. I toppled over it, crying out as I fell down the other side. I didn't realize what was happening until I was enveloped in freezing cold liquid, choking out in surprise.

In a panic, I clawed at the water, bringing myself up over the surface as I gasped and choked for air, being swept down the current of the Arno. I realized at that point that I couldn't swim. The movement of the water pushed me back under, and I desperately tried to grab onto something, anything to save me from dying. With an awkward thrust of the current, I bobbed back above water, gasping and crying out nonsense, to terrified to actually say anything. Then I was pulled back under, my arms flailing about as I tried to bring myself back up to the surface. My heart tripped over itself when a thought crossed my mind: _I'm going to die_. As if the thought had frozen me, I stopped thrashing and I sunk lower, reaching colder depths. I closed my eyes.

There was an odd rush of water around me, and then there was life. I clung to it, wanting it more than ever, burying my face into it's warmth. With a rush of bubbles and splashes, I could breathe again, although I spent most of it coughing, trying to get the water that I had inhaled out of me. There was heat, there was movement, there was life. I clung so tightly to it, wanting to seize the opportunity, wanting to live.

"I don't know how to swim," I sputtered, squeezing Ezio as I breathed into his neck, shivering. "I don't know how to swim."

"I know," Ezio heaved, swimming us to the edge of the canal. "You're safe."

I kept repeating the sentence over and over, trying to grip onto reality but finding it difficult the way by body shook. Ezio waded out of the river and onto a low bank that winded back up into the streets. He knelt to set me down, but I shook my head no. I didn't think I could walk on my own.

We sat there for a long moment, my face buried in his neck, his arms holding me protectively while mine wrapped around his broad shoulders.

My mutters had gone silent, and his head leaned against mine, his breath falling on my ear. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, but the words that came out of my mouth were, "don't let go."

He stood up straight, shifting me in his arms comfortably. At that moment, the girl ran up to us and was going on about how relieved she was to see us both okay. She had the dog at her side, who stared up at me with his big, brown eyes, almost hauntingly so. Stupid dog. When the girl asked if she could help, Ezio shook his head no and bade her farewell, obviously tapped out on his flirtations for the night. Which was fine by me.

The cold night air wasn't nice to me. As we went back through the streets, I shivered more from the cold than from my fear, and I finally unburied my head from the crook of Ezio's neck.

"I could have died," I whispered, my forehead rubbing against his rough jaw.

"Yeah. You shouldn't be so reckless."

"It wasn't me!" I pouted, lifting my head up more. "The dog ran by me and pushed me into the water."

Ezio chuckled. "Maybe you shouldn't have let the dog push you around. Stand your ground, silly girl."

"I was just—!" I cut myself off, huffing. "You're impossible."

He ignored me as I glared up at him. His hood was pressed down against his back, his hair slicked down to the back of his neck; the ribbon must have been lost, because his hair was loose. Water droplets were still running down his angular face, creating pretty little shining paths across his skin. Sighing, I let my head drop again, at least grateful for his rescue and his warmth. How many times had he saved my life now?

"It's funny that your name means water and you can't even swim," Ezio commented, his grin widening.

"Shut up," I muttered, lifting my head and once again rubbing along his jaw. "You need to shave."

"I thought I could go for the beard look," Ezio hummed, jutting out his jaw.

"Ew," I responded, scrunching my face up. "No. Stay with what you got; it's more reflective of your roguish personality. Besides, I like it stubbly."

"I bet your thighs would like it too."

My face fell into complete horror and disgust. "Watch your mouth, pervert!"

Grinning, Ezio winked at me. "Well, it's true."

I didn't like the way my stomach was twisting, the way my face flushed with heat, the way my heart didn't seem to know how to function properly under that grin. The way I couldn't help but smile. It was those eyes—those amazing, golden eyes. I reached up over his back and grabbed onto the soaked hood, yanking it up over his head, covering his eyes. "Put your hood on, _asino_," I muttered, glancing away from him. Ezio laughed the entire way back to Paola's.

* * *

Once I had warm soup in my belly, I felt a little bit better about the whole thing, no longer feeling the slight numbness that came with death. Once Paola had heard that I nearly drowned, she had a bath drawn for me, and I nearly wept with the warmth of the water, glad to see that the incident wouldn't ruin cleanliness for me. During the bath, however, I realized that I had a gash in my leg—I wasn't entirely sure where I had gotten it, but the Arno did have a bunch of junk in it. In all of the panic, I must have not registered any pain. Once I was done with the bath, dressed in clean, dry clothes, I wandered around the bordella, looking for Paola so that I could get some bandages for my leg.

She was in the front room speaking with Ezio, who was sitting on a couch with three courtesans. I frowned at the sight, but waited patiently by, holding up one leg of my slacks around my thigh, until Paola looked over at me.

"How was your bath, Narina?" She asked, smiling at me.

"Good." I looked down at my leg, avoiding Ezio's gaze. "I got hurt somehow during the whole thing."

"Are you okay? Don't walk on it!" Ezio was suddenly right next to me, arm around me as he supported my weight.

"It's fine," I argued. "It's not that deep—I just don't want it getting infected is all. I can walk just fine." He ignored my explanation and led me over to the couch. It was like I was the plague, considering how the courtesans all fled from the couch as soon as they saw I was sitting there. Not that I wanted them there in the first place, but it made me feel like I was some sort of filthy disease.

"I'll have it bandaged up," Paola said softly before she swooped out of the room.

In the meantime, Ezio was bent over me, examining the cut as if he were some professional doctor looking for signs of infection.

I swatted at his head. "Stop," I muttered. "I'm fine."

"How did you not know about this before?" He asked, looking up at me. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"A little yeah." I remembered back before everything had turned upside down, when I had been stabbed by Vieri and how I had healed quickly. Perhaps the cut had been worse before. Paola was back, rubbing some salves on the skin before she wrapped it up in linen.

"There. All done." She stood up, looking down at Ezio and I. "And so you move to protect the Medici tomorrow, hm?"

"Yes." Ezio stood, the two obviously continuing the conversation from before. "The Medici are powerful. They can help us."

"Not that easily," Paola insisted. "Since they are such a high power, they will not be able to openly support you, Ezio. He had other duties as well, and some may be of more importance than your own."

"True." Ezio stroke his chin. "Still, I shall do the best I can."

"So we save the Medici tomorrow," I confirmed, bending my leg to get the feel of the linen.

"_We_ are not doing anything tomorrow," Ezio corrected, looking down at me. "_I_ am going to save the Medici tomorrow. _You_ are staying here and resting."

"What!" I shrieked, pouting. "You're kidding, right?"

He shook his head. "You almost died tonight."

"Yeah, but I'm totally fine now!"

"Narina." We stared at each other for a very long moment. "You're not coming with," he declared, inclining his chin.

A huff pushed through my lips. "Yes I am."

"This isn't open for argument anymore. You're staying here, and that's final."

I slumped back against the couch. "Why? I can handle myself."

"A dog pushed you into the Arno, Narina." My cheeks burned as Paola hid a smile. "Besides, you hurt your leg."

Seeing that he wasn't going to budge, I folded my arms tightly and looked away from him, putting on my best frown. With the argument over, Ezio excused himself to go bed, saying he had to wake up early. I decided that I could get some rest too, and maybe sleep in and rub it in Ezio's face later. Liking the idea more and more, I finally smirked a little as I went to my room.

* * *

Much to my dismay, I woke up around dawn, annoyed that I couldn't sleep in. Determined to still rub it in Ezio's face, I stayed in the bed and watched the clouds that drifted in the sky outside the glass panes of the window. But even with that, I found myself utterly bored. I turned out to be more jealous of Ezio—I would rather be out risking my life than lounging in bed all morning.

I finally dragged myself to get something to eat, munching on whatever I could find, and went to the front room to listen to the girls gossip about the townsfolk (which was, at times, very hilarious). As I sat there, Paola found me and asked to look at my leg. When she unwrapped it, I was shocked to see that it still hadn't healed—and that the skin around the wound was turning pink. Fearing that it might be infected, Paola had me go back to bed and rest for the remaining part of the day.

At some point, laying there in a bored stupor, I fell asleep. I was jarred awake by a loud commotion downstairs. Hearing Ezio's voice among it all, I crawled out of bed, rubbed the sand out of my eyes, and went to the front room. As I walked in, I nearly ran into Ezio, who 'oh'ed under his breath and grabbed a hold of my shoulders. "You're awake; good."

"What's going on? How did protecting the Medici go?"

Ezio dodged the question. "Here, let's get you sat down. Paola told me your wound might be getting worse."

"It's fine," I muttered, but let him lead me to the couch. When he sat me down, his hands hoisted up my leg into his lap, rolling up my slacks. I tensed as his rough hands ran along my bare skin, my lips pressing together as I bit back a surprised gasp.

Oblivious, Ezio unwrapped the bandages and looked over the cut. "It is getting a little pink," he muttered.

"It's fine." I tried to pull away. "Now tell me about the Medici."

His golden eyes peered down at me. "Francesco managed to kill one of them."

I slipped my leg down from his lap. "What happened?"

Ezio told me how everything had happened, how one of the brother's had been killed before Ezio could truly help, and he managed to save the one name Lorenzo. Since Ezio had helped the man, he had promised Ezio with aid by giving Ezio side-jobs that could rake in some cash and information.

"That's it?" I frowned. "Not a whole lot for saving his life."

"It's all that he can offer from his position. In any case, Francesco was able to get away. There's been word that he's going to try and start a riot against the Medici now. I'm going to stop it."

I puffed my chest out. "I'm going to help this time." Ezio slanted me a look, and before he could say anything, I shook my head at him vigorously. "No. I am helping. That's that."

"Fine."

My lips pursed as I studied Ezio reaching up into his hood to rub his eyes. Although I had wanted to rub it in his face that I had slept all day, seeing him so tired made me sad. "When is this riot going to happen?"

"Sometime tonight, I believe."

I reached out and tugged on his hood. "Maybe you should get some sleep, then. You look like hell."

He narrowed his eyes at me, though a silly smirk appeared on his scarred lips. "Nice try with trying to hide the concern with the rude comment."

I couldn't help but smile back. "Anytime."

With a sigh, he reached out and ruffled my hair like I was a small child, his fingers tangling in my already messy hair. "We're going to have to teach you how to swim at some point. Maybe next summer."

"If we're still alive by then," I pointed out, shrugging. The reality of my words hit us both at the same time, and our smiles fell as his hand dropped to my shoulder. It was only just a matter of time, wasn't it? I reached up and grabbed his hand, taking it from my shoulder. "You should go rest."

"Just a quick nap, sure." He squeezed my hand, winking at me as he stood. "You should wrap up your leg again and rest too. It's going to be a long night."

I nodded. "Right. See you in a few hours."

He waved at me nonchalantly, turning and walking towards the door. On his way through, he grabbed a courtesan and disappeared through the door. I pouted and huffed. Forever the man whore no matter what, I guess. I didn't know why it continually surprised and bothered me. Trying to direct my thoughts elsewhere, I wrapped my leg back up and decided to get something to eat, feeling famished from my whole day of doing nothing.

* * *

Since I had been lazy all day and had a good meal, I was ready for a long night of fighting. The sun was setting, the sky painted in vibrant orange and pink hues. Autumn was around the corner, threatening us with chilly nights and biting breezes; summer had gone by much too fast. Seeing that the day was coming to a close, I decided to wake Ezio up so we could devise a plan and finish this mission. I knocked on the door and peeked in, prepared for the worse. But he was alone in the bed, the blanket tucked under his chin as he was curled on his side. I studied him for a moment, watching as his shoulders move with his even breaths, how innocent he looked without those golden eyes watching me.

I reached down, grabbing his shoulder. "Ezio." I shook him. "Ezio, wake up. It's almost dark."

He groaned loudly, his face scrunching in protest as he reached out and swatted at me. Mumbling nonsense, he shifted around so that he was facing me. His eyes lazily opened, hooded and weary. "Is it night already?"

"Yes." I folded my arms and peered down at him. "We need to figure out what we're doing."

Ezio mumbled again, pushing the covers down as he sat up, the material falling to his waist. I swallowed, adverting my gaze. Of course he was naked. Although the blanket gave him decency, his strong chest and stomach were definitely enough to make any woman drool. I took a step back. "We'll talk out in the front room. I just thought that I'd wake you up."

His fingers scratched at his chin, the rasping noise doing something to turn my insides into puddy as the image of his earlier beard statement flashed in my head. Before he could reply, I turned and left the room, not wanting him to see my reddening face.

By the time he had come to the front room, dressed and fed, I had seized my bearings. Gesturing for him to come sit by me, I started talking. "We need to formulate some sort of plan."

"Agreed." Ezio fell next to me, his hood falling against his shoulders as his hair remained a mess. "According to Lorenzo, the riot will be happening in the plaza in front of the Palazza Dela Signora. Francesco should be guiding the riot with the help of a man named Jacopo, one of his allies."

I nodded. "So, we should go to the riot and find both of them—take them both down."

"_Si_, but it won't be that easy." Ezio rubbed at his chin again. "There's bound to be men that are to protect both of them. It's not going to be simple like it was with Vieri."

Frowning, I realized that it would be a lot harder without Mario's men to distract most of the enemies. "We can handle it."

"I never said that we couldn't." With a smile, Ezio stood from the couch. "Let's go scope out the plaza. I'm sure there's already the workings of our enemies."

The night air was cold as the sun finally dropped behind the horizon. Ezio and I hopped across the rooftops of Venice, making a little bit of an unspoken race out of it considering how we both ran as hard as we could and the competitive glances that we threw at each other. At the plaza, however, any remnants of childish intentions were gone, and we stared down into the street. There was a large group of people, though nothing too massive. It was still strange to see so many people rising against the Medici.

From the corner of my eye, I watched the beak of Ezio's hood tilt up. "Look." Ezio was pointing up at the prison, to the roof. I gazed after his point, finding a figure standing upon the building. "Francesco." At the breathed word, I swallowed and put on my game face. This was it. The man was shouting out angry words to the mob below, reciting his beliefs and fanning the flames for a riot.

"What's the plan?"

Ezio's hand dropped to my shoulder, and I looked up to him. The shadow of his hood was so dark with the night that I could barely make out his eyes in the dim light that came from the waning crescent moon. "Jacopo is down in the crowd—he is the man riding on the horse down there." He pointed so I could see. "I'll go get Francesco. You keep an eye on Jacopo. Don't let him get away."

"Right." I bumped my fist into Ezio's shoulder. "Be careful."

He squeezed my shoulder. "You too."

We went our separate ways then; Ezio climbed up higher while I dropped down to the streets, walking and blending into the mob. Everyone was muttering angrily, bobbing their heads in agreement to Francesco's shouts that echoed between the buildings. I made my way closer to Jacopo, staying far enough away that I didn't raise suspicion. The horse shifted nervously on its hooves at the bustling crowd, but the man, white beard and dark robes, muttered low orders to the beast as he stared up at Francesco.

Seeing my target wasn't going anywhere, I glanced up at the man as well. From what I could make out, Francesco had dark hair, just like Vieri had, which reminded my that they were father and son. What was it that they were trying to accomplish? It didn't make any sense to me—what did they want?

Francesco suddenly disappeared from the edge of the roof, to which the crowd seemed to panic at. Jacopo then began to shout orders from his perch, taking control of the crowd. I wondered idly if Ezio had gotten the man up on the roof, and I heaved a sigh as I realized that it was almost over.

Minute after minute passed. Nothing in the plaza was happening, but I made sure to keep my eye on Jacopo, who was looking more nervous as the time went by. Ezio had to have been doing something, but I began to worry. What if things weren't going as smoothly as I had hoped? Would Ezio be okay?

There was a movement at the top of the building that caught the attention of both Jacopo and I. With our faces upturned, we actually watched as a body was flung over the edge of the building, flying through the air before it snapped and swung, hanging by a rope. Utter shock and disgust froze me. Francesco stared at all of the plaza with glazed eyes. Everyone in the area shifted and then began to leave in a rush, some running in a panic. The movement was pushing me away from Jacopo, so I fought against it, trying to get to the man on the horse. Jacopo, who had stared blankly up at Francesco, went into full panic mode and galloped away, steering his steed into the streets. Shouting out a curse, I fought harder against the crowd, making my way through all of the panicking people.

By the time I had broke free of the people, Jacopo was no where to be seen. Following after my last view of him, I ran down a street to try and catch up, not wanting to fail the only job that Ezio had given me. I'm not sure how long I ran or where I was going, listening to the night to try and hear the hoof beats of the running horse. With all of the exertion over such a long time, my lungs were on fire and my leg ached. It must have actually been worse than it had looked. I was soon limping through the streets, keeping my eyes peeled for the horse, the man, anything that could tip me off of where he had gone.

But after a few more streets, I couldn't go further. My leg was screaming out in pain. I collapsed against a building, rolling up my slacks to see that the white bandages were stained with a magenta color in the moonlight. Great. Huffing from all the running, I leaned my head against the building as I pressed my hand against my leg, trying to get the bleeding to stop.

It seemed like hours passed, but I knew in reality that I must have only been a few minutes. Ezio finally came dropping from the sky, running up to me as he pulled back his hood.

"Narina, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I answered as he knelt in front of me. "My leg..."

He frowned as he assessed the blood smeared on my fingers. "I told you to be careful." He was reaching for a pouch on his belt, and I was thankful that he carried around medical stuff.

"Jacopo got away," I breathed. "I'm sorry—I couldn't keep up."

"I'd rather find Jacopo halfway across the country than find you collapsed in the street with a bloody leg." He moved my hand from the bandages and he unwrapped them from my leg. I noticed the blood splattered on his robes.

"Francesco?"

"Easy to kill. He tried to run, but I caught him."

"Wasn't it a bit over the top to hang him like that?"

Ezio grinned at me. "It stopped the riot, didn't it?"

"True." The bandages were removed, revealing a split in the already torn skin, and he reached for some cleaning alcohol. I flinched as he dumped the liquid on to the wound, mixing in a pink rivulet down my leg. Without words, he wrapped my leg back up in fresh bandages.

His golden eyes flashed to mine. "Can you walk?"

I pulled my pant leg back down. "I might need a little help."

Ezio slung an arm around my waist as he helped me stand up, holding me to his side as he started to help me limp down the street. "What about Jacopo?" I asked.

"We'll deal with him later—I'm sure he won't go too far." Ezio lifted his chin a fraction. "And if he does, we'll follow."

"Sounds like a good plan." I wrapped an arm around his waist, gripping onto his belt. I must have been wincing or limping too much for Ezio's liking. He stopped me down the street and lifted me into his arms. Thanking him under my breath, leaned against his shoulder and sighed. "Still, I wish I could have kept up with him. It's pretty sad when I can't even keep a guy under my eye. Some assassin I would make."

"I blame Pifo," Ezio casually put in, his mouth going into a crooked smile.

I slanted him a glare, but then I smiled with him, nodding. "Same with me."

* * *

Back at the Bordella, Ezio carried me inside and had Paola immediate boil up some warm water so that we could treat the wound properly. Then I was in bed, my pants rolled up, as Paola and Ezio sat at my bed side looking over the gash. They cleaned it out thoroughly and wrapped it up with some herbs smeared all over it.

"You're going to have to keep off of your feet for a few days," Ezio told me as Paola left with the bowl of warm water.

I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance. "Fine," I dragged out, leaning back against the pillows.

He chuckled, sitting at the edge of my bed. "You really have to learn to be more careful."

"If I was careful, then there'd be no excitement in my life!" I pointed out.

"Right, because following an assassin around is never exciting." Ezio pouted and shook his head.

I laughed. "Nope! It has to be much more extreme than that."

His smile widened into a grin, his straight teeth peeping out at me as his golden eyes, shining brightly in the candlelight, locked with mine. His hand reached out and ruffled my hair. "What am I going to do with you?" He asked, shaking his head.

"I don't know," I answered, shrugging innocently. "But for now, I'm content with the way things are."

His fingers tangled into my hair. "Me too." We sat in a silence then, staring at each other as his hand wound into a fist in my hair. Something flickered in his eyes then as he smile disappeared. Releasing me, Ezio pulled his hand back and stood from the bed. "You should get some sleep," he said. "I'll come check up on you in the morning."

"And what _is_ the exact plan for Jacopo?"

"We'll look around for information here in a few days. He can't be too hard to find."

I nodded. "_Va bene_. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Narina." He left the room, closing the door quietly.

As I stared at the wood, I found myself lost deep in thought, not entirely sure with how I was feeling. "Hm"ing under my breath and pinching out the candle on the side table, I rolled over onto my good side and curled up, falling asleep only moments later.

* * *

**There's the chapter for you. Along with some EzioxNarina. I suddenly realize that the next chapter is DUN DUN DUN the dancing chapter. Which is...shocking. But there is a reason that their relationship is going along so slowly, and I'm actually going to bring it up here in the next few chapters.**

**And you may have noticed that Narina doesn't get as much action as she did in the last story. Which is going to be remedied soon as well. :) Just give it time. Things will start going good soon.**

**So, I have a bunch of tests next week (Midterms), and, since I'm on the concert committee, I have to work this All-American Rejects, Boys Like Girls, and Parachute concert on Wednesday, and even if I get to meet them all, I'm still stressed out about the whole thing. So I highly, highly doubt that I'll get anything out next week...but we'll just have to see, I suppose.**

**Yeah. And...um...sitting here enjoying all of the previous fanarts for the last story...wondering where the fanart is for this run through...Just saying. :3 I would love some fanart/fanfics/fan ANYTHING! :3**

**Thanks for the read, and Please review! :3**


	13. Crimson

**-So the concert was freaking amazing! :D All the bands were super fun and it was a great time! :3  
****-Thanks for being understanding with my midterms and stuff. I feel like I did okay on all of them except for one...but that's not a big deal! :)  
****-For the first time in years, I have video chatted with SporkedGamer, Dragon's-Maidens, and ZetaAdele on Skype. Those three will forever be the fruits to my loom!  
****-On an off note, I'm assuming that most of you have read the first version of this story. So you know the ending and how it's super sad? "Some Nights" by Fun. Is totally Ezio's song for the epilogue. Listen to it and think about it. It's so weird.**

**Thanks for reviewing!:  
****sofarsogood99901  
****silverauror  
****shippolove844  
****My Gulty Pleasure  
****SynysterForever  
****Altamago  
****Chisu-chan  
****tennispanda  
****Mimi. Loves. Soul  
****Brandie  
****SteveandSienna (aka Keely)**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Crimson**

* * *

I remember sitting at my window, watching the last leaf out on the tree in the courtyard cling to the branch so desperately. Then, with a loud gust, the leaf snapped off and drifted down to the ground, falling slowly, so sadly. There it sat in the grass, reddened and wizened, along with its brethren, gathered in a brown-yellow mass in the green grass. But it was different, a more crimson color than the other leaves, very distinctive. Red was always such a pretty color

Autumn came by far too quickly for my liking. Jacopo had literally disappeared after that night. No matter what we tried, neither us or our allies could find any trace of him even existing. He was obviously going to ride out the storm in hiding. We just hoped that he wouldn't stay hidden all winter.

Since we had no leads, we went back home to Monteriggioni, a very needed return. I enjoyed being able to sleep in my familiar room without having to worry about being woken up in the middle of a night from a "client".

Leaning my head against the side of the window pane, I continued to gaze down at the growing leaf pile. It had been about two months since the death of Francesco. Winter was right around the corner, threatening us with dark skies and heavy clouds. The final leaf had fallen off of the tree, and I knew it was only a matter of time until those bare branches would hold soft layers of snow. The thought made me smile. I always loved the first snow—it was somehow magical.

"Narina." I turned and looked at the man standing in my door, his arms folded as his body was leaned against the frame. He wasn't wearing the normal white robes; instead, he was dressed in common clothes. His feet were bare, spread out on the marble floor.

"What is it?"

He raised a brow. "Having fun?"

I looked back out the window. "Winter is coming."

"Yeah." He stepped into the room.

"We're running out of time."

"I know." He came up beside me, leaning on the other side of the window, his hands bracing against the frame. "Something has to happen soon."

"We can't just depend on that," I reminded him, looking up at him. "I say we go out and look for the answers ourselves."

Ezio sighed. "Narina, we've already been over this. If we go searching, Jacopo will avoid us. He knows what we look like; he has eyes and ears in the cities just as we do. We're going to have to depend on our less known comrades to figure out just where he is hiding."

"Still, I wish there was someway we could speed things up."

"If we could do that, we would look back on that skipped time and regret it."

I stared up at him for a moment before I groaned, rubbing my face. "Great. You're being all deep and philosophical today."

His deep chuckle rumbled from his chest. "Well, Winter does seem to bring the poet out in me."

Snorting under my breath, I rolled my eyes and stepped away from the window. "Sure, sure. You may be charming, but you aren't known for your creativity." He frowned at that, looking genuinely hurt. But I knew better. "How is Claudia today?" I asked, changing the subject. His sister had been down with a fever for several days now.

"She's doing fine. I believe she's past the worst of the sickness." He watched me as I crossed my room to my bed where I collapsed. "How are you? Didn't you say you were feeling a little sick the other day."

"Ah, I'm fine now." I waved my hand nonchalantly through the air. "I'm tough as nails. No sickness is going to get me down."

"Those are famous last words, mind you." Ezio laughed, shaking his head as he came to sit down by me, laying back on my bed. I stared back at him over my shoulder, studying how his shirt clung to the muscles in his chest as he folded his arms behind his head.

Sighing, I looked to my hands in my lap. "But still. Sometimes I wonder just how long that we're in this for. You know, this assassin business."

"Honestly," Ezio replied as I watched one of his bare feet tap on the ground, "I think we're in this for life."

I looked at him again. "And you're fine with that?"

He nodded. "I want to know the truth."

Repeating his words in my head for a moment, I leaned back and lounged back against the bed too. "_Those_ are famous last words, my friend," I whispered. "Sometimes the truth isn't supposed to be found. That's why it's hidden in the first place."

His left hand was around my jaw, then, tilting my head up so that I was looking at him upside down, my head pressing back into the bed. The gold of his eyes were burning with curiosity. "Does that imply that _you're_ hiding some truth?"

I shrugged. "If you think about it, I'm hiding something from both of us. Why can't I remember anything? Especially about those men chasing me? Sometimes, I think I meant to forget. I think my ignorance protects me."

He gave no response. He just sat there, staring down at me. His hand had dropped from my jaw and was curled gently around my neck.

I shifted, raising a hand to place against his at my throat. "It feels like you're trying to choke me."

A soft smile appeared on his face, but his hand didn't move. I opened my mouth to complain again, but my words fizzled away as his thumb began to rub across my skin. The smile widened as he felt me tense, as if he liked the feel of strumming my pulse. Suddenly I was so confused. What was he doing to me?

"Ser Ezio!" Both of us were sitting up at the voice, his hand dropping from around me. One of the older mercenaries came running into the door, his eyes wide. "We found traces of Jacopo's men."

"Truly?" Ezio stood from the bed. "Where?"

"Two of them are hiding in San Gimignano. If you can catch them and question them, I'm sure they will tell you of Jacopo's location."

"_Grazie_. We'll set out immediately."

The man left and Ezio looked back at me. "Pack up. We're hitting the road."

For a long moment, I stared up at him, some complexity in my mind making it difficult to understand what he was saying. But then I nodded, eager to get it done and over with.

* * *

Within the next hour, Ezio and I were all armored up and ready to go. A few of Mario's mercenaries saddled up along with us, adding more to our force. The day was already halfway gone, but Ezio seemed determined to get the job done within the next twenty-four hours. Once we were sure that we had sufficient supplies, Ezio led us down the road, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The sun was setting on the horizon as we rode into the area of San Gimignano. Before we could storm the city, Ezio stopped us all and formulated a plan. Mario's men would look around the city and try to find information on our targets, and from there, Ezio and I would talk to them and go into action. They all went into the town, sticking to the shadows. Ezio and I followed far behind, lagging our steps and hiding our weapons and faces to avoid suspicion. We eventually found a nice little courtyard to sit, squeezing onto a bench that already had an elderly man sitting upon it. He was very friendly, smiling warmly at us as we sat, but embarrassing me when he commented on what a cute couple we made. I was further embarrassed when Ezio went along with the claim, putting his arm around me and holding me to his side. But the man was so happy with it that I didn't have the heart to push Ezio away.

Good thing, though, that one of Mario's men waved us over to the shadows of a building before anything else could be discussed. Our first man was Antonio Maffei, who was preaching scriptures from atop the tallest building in the city, the Santa Maria Assunta. "He has gone mad from anticipating his own death," the mercenary explained. "On the rooftops around him, he has placed a great number of archers to protect him. Reaching him without an arrow in your back will be a difficult thing to do."

"_Grazie_." Ezio nodded to the mercenary, leading me away with a hand wrapped around my elbow.

As I fell into step with him, I gazed up. "So what are we going to do? He obviously knows that you come for him."

"The only way that I can get up safely is for a distraction, one large enough that he may send the guards after it." We arrived at the building not a moment later, staring up the huge tower where a man in a monk's robe stood, preaching loudly. The height made my head spin.

Great. I sighed. "I'm going to be the decoy, aren't I?"

"Of course." Ezio grinned at me, already unbuckling and unbuttoning his robes. I watched him undress, armor and all, with a pouted lip, and that pout turned into a grimace when he held it all out towards me. "You're kidding, right?" I took all of it in my arms, groaning. "This is all so heavy!"

"It's not so bad." He proceeded to take the robes and began to pull it onto me, finding that I was so short that the robe was more like a dress for me. Laughing under his breath, Ezio tightened and cinched the robes so that they would actually stay on my figure. He kept all of his weapons, letting me stick to my own.

The plan was for me to gain the attention of the guards or Antonio on the roof. From there, the crazed man would surely send his men after me. At that point, I would run like hell until I was safe or until the job was done. It seemed foolproof; however...

"What if I get stuck in the back with an arrow?" I voiced my concern. "What if they catch me and kill me?"

"They won't catch you," Ezio said confidently, smiling at me. "You're small, quick, and smart."

I grabbed at the heavy robes at my chest. "Not with all of this!"

"You'll be fine," he reassured me. "If you're really worried, you can always use the smoke bombs in this pouch here"—he grabbed onto a pouch that hung at my waist—"and you should be able to get away."

Remembering my last attempt at the smoke bombs, I grumbled under my breath and shifted around all the extra weight, trying to get used to it all.

Ezio's hand landed on top of my head, ruffling my hair. "Be careful."

"I will." He reached for the hood and perched it on my head, the beaked hood dipping far down my face, covering my eyes. Laughing when I pouted, Ezio adjusted the material around so that I could see from the shadows of the hood.

"The robes suit you! We might have to have some tailored to fit you after this is all done and over with."

"No way! These are too heavy!" I shifted about, letting the weight settle. "I'm going to go now."

"Alright." Ezio gripped my arm before I could turn away. "Don't do anything stupid."

I frowned. "I won't. I'm not like you—I'm smart about things."

"Yet a dog pushed you in the river."

Punching him in the shoulder, I growled out a "shut up" before I turned and began hauling myself up the side of a building. It was more difficult than what I was used to, but I managed, remembering how Ezio taught me to shift my weight about myself. Halfway up the building, however, I was sweaty and tired, huffing out loudly. What made matters worse was that the guards from upon the rooftops had spotted me and were shooting arrows at me, the deadly projectiles smashing into the wall just beside me, missing me by mere inches.

"There he is!" Antonio screamed, the voice echoing off of the buildings. "Kill him! Kill him!"

Grunting under my breath, I tried to haul myself up the wall faster than I had been before, praying to God that I wouldn't end up with an arrow in my back; armor or no, it still scared the shit out of me. Up on the roofs, I tried to keep my face hidden, my voluminous hair back in the hood lest they notice that I was no assassin. Ezio had guessed right, though—Antonio sent all of the guards after me, intent of having my head brought back to him. With all of the armor and extra weight, it was hard for me to run at my full potential. Over a few buildings away from the tall tower, I looked back at all of my pursuers, finding myself in near panic when I saw just how many there were. With a quick decision, I reached for one of the three smoke bombs at my waist and gripped onto it, praying that I could get something right for once. I threw it down with all of my might, and—thank God—the bomb exploded in a cloud of smoke, blinding me momentarily. I managed to slip down the side of the building, coughing out as I ran down the street to find a nice hiding spot to wait for Ezio.

I found a narrow alleyway, standing still there for a few minutes before I released a held breath. Then I began to shed of the armor and robes, tired of them and feeling insanely sweaty and gross. How did Ezio deal with it? I couldn't imagine how he got through the hot days wearing the robes. But, at that thought, I began to imagine him in those days; sweat rolling down his brow, down the back of his strong neck, his chest...Biting my lip, I threw the hood down from around my face and went to unbuttoning the robes. As I peeled off my white covering, flushed from more than exertion and the heat, Ezio came running into the alleyway, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"You did it!" He exclaimed excitedly, throwing a hug on me.

I stiffened, weird images going through my brain. I squeezed my eyes shut. God damn, when did him smelling sweaty become a certain problem?"Did you even go kill Antonio?" I asked as I pulled away.

"Of course. It was easy without all of those guards."

"And? Did you get any information?"

Ezio's face went blank, his gold eyes pinned on me. "Oh. No. I forgot that we were looking for information."

I slapped the heel of my hand to my forehead. "I swear to God, it's like you're twelve years old!" Before he could reply, I bent and picked up his armor and robes from the ground, shoving them back into his arms. "Here—just get dressed and we'll go find this other guy. And don't mess it up this time!"  
He mimicked my words in a high pitched voice as he pulled on his robes. Which just further proved my point. Men.

* * *

We spent a good portion of the rest of the day looking for the other mercenaries to tell us of our next target, Bernardo Baroncelli. The man had escaped from prison over in Florence and was believed to be hiding in San Gimignano. Ezio and I hunted the man down to a small courtyard in the northern part of the town. He stood there with two large guards, wringing his hands together in worry. I could barely make out the words from the high roof that Ezio and I stood upon, but he definitely knew that a killer was hunting him down. It made me sad to see men so scared about their death, which was understandable, but I sometimes wondered why they got themselves all wrapped up in the mess if they feared something as inevitable as death.

Ezio made short work of the big guards, surprising me when I realized that he was becoming very talented with his blade, his movements fluid, his strikes always hitting. It had not been as such just a year before. As Ezio pinned Bernardo to the ground, blade at throat, he demanded answers about Jacopo. In the last moments of his life, Bernardo told the assassin everything, trying to get the best chance possible at surviving. He was so desperate, so scared, that I had to look away when Ezio shoved the blade through his throat, but I still heard the last clinging breaths struggling for life.

But our mission was done. Bernardo had given us everything that we needed to know. The Templars were going to meet "in the shadows of the Roman Gods". When I shook my head, not understanding, Ezio explained to me that there was a structure near San Gimignano called the Antico Teatro Romano. Before that, however, Jacopo was going to a meeting in the chapel. We would have to follow him from there and to the Teatro Romano. But we had a few days before things were even going to set into motion. By then, the sun was nearly setting, but Ezio insisted that we ride home anyway. There was a sharp wind, and he thought it best we get back home in case a storm was brewing. We needed proper supplies and such anyway.

* * *

The sky had darkened threateningly by the time we rode up into Monteriggioni. I stared up at the thick, gray clouds as I dismounted my horse, allowing the stable hands to take it back into stalls. Ezio left me and went into the city, obviously excited to talk to his uncle about the developments of the day. I stayed out by the stables, staring up at the clouds and anticipated being pelted with rain at any moment. Before that could happen, however, I realized that I was starving and decided to go get something to eat.

Instead of joining the men on the mission plan, I decided to humor my more girly side and went to gossip with Claudia in the study. She was thankful for the distraction, and in no time, we were both giggling about the cute apprentice down in the fabricator shop and harping about how evil the old woman running a small food stall in the street was. As we were making very lewd comments about the young apprentice, Ezio walked in, ceasing our talk. Claudia was happy to see her brother, and stood to kiss his cheek; however, I was bummed out—it was nice to get in touch with my more feminine side after I spent days with Ezio. And I realized then that I was more bummed out because I couldn't giggle about how attractive Ezio was with Claudia. I could only giggle about that by myself. Which made it less fun.

"I suggest you get an early night, Narina," Ezio mused as Claudia sat back down. "We leave early tomorrow."

I pouted. "I thought that the meeting wasn't in a few days?"

"Mario wants us to look for some codex pages that he believe are in San Gimignano. Gives us something to do, I suppose."

"Why do we have to leave so early, though?" I whined. "We always leave early. Can't we sleep in for once in our lives?"

Ezio laughed. "We'll see. Still, you've had a rough day."

I had the feeling that I was being kicked out, that Ezio and Claudia were going to talk about me as soon as I left the room. Sighing, I stood from my chair and waved my hand through the air. "Fine, whatever. I know when I'm not wanted." I left the room and headed for the back door of the villa, intent on going to lay out on the roof despite the freezing night air. Halfway up the building, however, I realized that I wouldn't be able to see the stars because of the dark clouds, and I swore under my breath. Maybe it was best that I just go to bed. Making my way back into the villa, I went to my room, climbed in bed, and passed out, more tired than I had realized.

* * *

With a jolt, I woke up, almost terrified that I was being attacked, a strange, loud noise berating my ears. But then I realized that I was safe in bed, and the wind was the culprit of the loudness.

I laid there for a long moment, staring at the ceiling as the wind howled against the window. There was no way that I was getting back to sleep now. Huffing, I rolled over and pressed my face into my pillow, trying to drown out all of the sound. A particularly loud howl made me angrily sit up. There had to be some way to shut up the stupid wind! I wanted my sleep, dammit!

When I reached the window, however, I stopped. There were frozen crystals forked on the window in frosted paths. Outside the window fluffs of white dropped from the sky, drifting through the air. It was snowing!

I always loved the first snow of winter. It was like a breath of fresh air, replenishing the world in amazing white. Smiling and forgetting my irritation, I turned on my heel and made my way towards my bedroom door, slipping on my small shoes. When I went to walk out the back doors, I stopped myself and changed my tactics. Rushing up the stairs, I ran across the walkway over the office, which was left for the night. I swooped around the corner and ran up the narrow hallway, climbing the final ladder.

"Ezio!" I excitedly called, clamoring up. "Wake up!" The whole area looked amazing from his room—the windows gave such amazing portals to look at the snow blanketing the earth. I went to his beside when he didn't wake, shaking his shoulder. "Ezio! Wake up! It's snowing!"

He groaned, rolling away form me, basically telling me to fuck off. Well, I wouldn't have that! I grabbed him around the shoulders and rolled him over. His eyes were open at that point, and he didn't seem very happy that I was trying to ruin his beauty sleep. "What are you harping on about?" He groaned, his voice deep from sleep.

"C'mon! Stop being lazy!" I managed to get him up out of bed and onto his feet. His strong chest was bare, his slacks hanging loosely on his hips, his jutting hipbones peeking playfully over the top. I bit my lip. He probably wanted to be dressed to go outside. As he rubbed the sleep form his eyes, I went around his cluttered room, finding discarded boots and robes slung across the desk. I dressed him as if he were a doll, messily pulling on his robes, then shoving him back on the bed as I pulled his boot over his feet.

"I feel like I"m being raped," he muttered. "only you're dressing me instead of fucking me."

"Can't rape the willing," I pointed out, smiling. "Now get up!" I tugged him to his feet again and he stumbled after me, nearly toppling down through the hole. He complained the entire way through he Villa, still oblivious to what I was so excited for. I pulled him out the back doors on the ground floor, and a rush of crisp, clean air washed over me.

The courtyard was sheeted in a thin layer of snow, turning the beautiful garden into a magical kingdom, although harsh and cold. The snow crunched under our footsteps and excitement bolted through me once again. But the falling flakes mesmerized me, taking my excitement through awe. Ezio's arm dropped from my hold and I stepped further into the courtyard, staring up into the dark sky.

"It's so beautiful," I whispered, blinking as a flake tried to land on my eyelash. Ezio grumbled in response, obviously not as impressed as I was. Reaching out, I caught one of the falling flakes, watching it melt within my palm. "Do you suppose that Leonardo likes the winter?"

"What?" Ezio was fixing his robes so they were more closed. "Why?"

"Just look at this!" I spread my arms wide as if to embrace the whole courtyard. "The untouched snow is like an unpainted canvas! There's so much beauty that he must have insane amounts of inspiration."

"Ah." He came and stood by me, staring across the yard with hooded, sleepy eyes. I sighed, dropping my arms. I don't know why I invited him. He didn't appreciate it like I did.

At my sigh, he glanced down at me. Then he stepped forward, the snow crunching under his foot, his hand reaching out to me. "Take it."

Looking up, I stared at his offered hand. "What?"

"Grab my hand."

I didn't trust this. I stared incredulously at the hand, raising a brow. "Why?"

"You said this looks like a canvas. Let's paint out own picture."

I shook my head. "We're not artists like Leonardo."

His chin inclined, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Take my hand."

Finally, I did so, finding the warmth of his skin insanely better than the bracing cold. As he wrapped his hand around mine, he tugged me out further into the courtyard. When he swung me around, I tried to take my hand back bashfully. "I don't know how to dance, Ezio."

"I do." He tugged me closer, putting his other hand at my waist. "It's all in the lead."

Still, I shook my head, feeling strangely intimidated. "I don't know..."

Before I could make my escape, he swooped me around, my feet moving with his. "Just follow me, and you'll be fine." Biting my lip, I nodded, reaching up to put my hand against his chest. Despite Ezio being a strong, well-built man, he was graceful—so graceful, he even made me seem like I knew what I was doing. And despite my aversion to dancing before, I started to have fun. With every step, with every swoop, my smile grew wider. Soon, I was laughing, twirling around the courtyard under Ezio's guiding hands, our footprints littering the once placid canvas. His charming grin had appeared as I caught on to the movements of the dance. I was so certain of my new skills than ti actually tugged away from Ezio. But once his hands were gone, I was clumsy Narina once again. I stepped back, nearly slipped and flailed back until I regained my balance.

Huffing, I reaches up and brushed my hair angrily out of my face. "I want to learn myself."

"Fine. Let me help you." He stepped forward, reaching out to me.

"No." I took a step back. "Without your magical hands."

His charming grin twisted up into a more wicked grin. "Then let me use these magical hands!"

My stomach dropped and I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't touch me!" But he was upon me, lifting me off of the ground, his arms holding me against him. Then he began twirling around, and I couldn't help but giggle like a small child, wrapping my arms around his neck. We went around so many times that I began to feel dizzy, and I had to close my eyes against the spinning courtyard. My face fell forward, resting against the top of his head. Everything was suddenly too perfect; the snow falling like they were those stars that we had spent years staring at drifting down from the sky. And I was happy. For the first time in years, I was genuinely happy.

Ezio stepped lightly to a stop, holding me to him closely. Slowly, his arms released me, letting me slide down the front of him until I was standing tip-toed on his boots. My face was pressed into his neck, sucking in his warmth, his smell.

His breath was suddenly against my ear, shooting shivers through me despite the warmth. "Narina."

It was one word, one name. My name. I suddenly couldn't breathe quite right. My heart was beating too fast. His head moved, his rough stubble scraping across my skin. I automatically looked up, staring into his endless, golden eyes, filled with so much emotion I thought he would explode at any given moment. "I thought I told you to shave," I whispered.

He smiled, breathtaking and unfairly handsome. Then his leaned forward, his lips molding to mine. There was no sense of urgency, no feeling to move any further. I pressed back, enjoying the way his scar bumped into my lips, making me realize that he was only human. The kiss broke, our breaths mixing together in a hot mess before he pressed another to my mouth. He tasted so good. My head was spinning. What was happening?

Finally, he pulled away, his forehead pressing against mine. I kept my eyes closed, terrified of what I would see when I opened them. Would it be my best friend? Or a devilishly handsome stranger?

My thoughts were brought to a tiny detail, and I pulled away from Ezio. "My feet are about to fall off."

He held me away, then, taking a hold of my shoulders as he gazed down at my feet placed on top of his. They were freezing. "Well, no wonder! Why the hell are you wearing shoes like that out in the snow?"

"I was excited," I reminded him. "Shoes weren't a big concern at the time."

"Jesus. Come on, let's get you inside before Karma finds you and really does make you ill."

I looked at the snow, frowning. "I guess it's not that great of a picture, is it?"

He shrugged. "It's the thought that counts."

I stepped off of him and followed him back into the villa, grateful for all the warmth for my numb toes. At my bedroom door, he stopped and looked down at me. "Remember: we leave at noon tomorrow. Get some rest."

Smiling, I raised a brow at him. "So now we're sleeping in?"

His returning grin made something flip inside of me, and my smile fell. I was digging far too deep. Something in his demeanor changed as well, and his beautiful smirk disappear. He stiffly nodded, seeming so distant all of a sudden. "Yes. I figured we don't have to rush so much this time, although it is still important."

"Right." I nodded, folding my arms and feeling suddenly awkward. "Well...see you in the morning, I guess." "Goodnight." He turned and disappeared up the stairs.

I stared after him for a long moment, my brows knitted together like I couldn't figure out some tricky puzzle. Back in my room, I sprawled out face-first on my bed, trying to shut my eyes against the images in my mind.

When had things changed?

* * *

I didn't see either Ezio or Mario at breakfast the next morning. I figured that they were doing something with the mercenaries, so I tried not to think about it. But that was impossible. I couldn't get the night before off of my mind, and it made me worried. I didn't want things to change. It wasn't fair.

Claudia was more talkative than she usually was, so she made up for my silence. Maria, who had been an empty shell ever since we had gotten to Monteriggioni, was actually staring to smile at some of the things that Claudia would say. It was good to see that she was getting out of her deep rut. I knew that it must have been tragic for half of her family being killed, but she had been so sad for such a long time. If Giovanni could have said anything to Maria, I knew it would have been for her not to be melancholic.

After breakfast, I left the Villa to go for a walk out by the small river in the fields outside of the city. The sun was out, but it was still freezing cold out. The snow from the night before was melting, dripping from the roofs, the dirt streets already melted down. In the training ring was a few mercenaries and to the edge of that was Ezio and Mario, talking to each other with arms folded and furrowed brows.

I walked up to them, intending on getting the inside scoop for our mission. "_Salute_," I greeted as I walked up to them. Ezio turned and looked at me, nodded, and looked away, looking almost angry. I was so distracted by that that I hardly paid attention to Mario wrapping an arm around me and telling me what the whole plan was. Since word of Bernardo's death had gotten around, the mercenaries had gotten wind that the meeting at moved to that night instead of a few days, a ploy to try and trick us.

"So that means we have to set out now, then," I summed it up, looking over at Ezio.

He nodded. "Exactly. We'll have to go codex hunting some other day."

"Be careful, you two," Mario offered, taking a hold of our shoulders in each hand. "I know that this is dangerous work that you are going into. Take some of my men with you and keep safe."

"We will, uncle." Ezio glanced over at me. "Do you need time to get ready?"

I nodded. "I'll only take a minute."

* * *

We were once again on the road back to the small city. I was stick and tired of traveling; I wished that it would just get more and more bearable as time went by, but it didn't. Not to mention that riding so much was giving me rashes in my thighs. But we took it slow, the horses going at a slow saunter that nearly lulled me to sleep on many occasions. The cold did nothing for me, and I was already sick of the snow. I had plenty of time to contemplate it on the trip—Ezio rode ahead of the group and had asked me to ride in the back, "just to be safe". I may have been reading too much into it, but I felt like he was avoiding me. Which I guess I didn't blame him; I was trying to sort things out in my head too.

When we got to San Gimignano, it was evening, the sun setting. From what Bernardo had told us, the meeting at the chapel would take place at sunset. From there, we'd have to follow Jacopo. Ezio ordered the mercenaries to remain hidden out towards the Teatro Romano to make sure our sources had been correct while he and I were to play the waiting game.

We climbed up a tall building just beside the chapel, watching the front doors closely.

I brushed the snow off of the edge, making a clear spot that I could sit. "It's too cold for this," I muttered. "Why couldn't the Templars choose summer to do all of their bad work and such?"

"I don't know," Ezio answered, staying standing, his arms folded over his armored chest. We sat there for a long time, silence reigning over us. Finally, after an agonizing hour, a figure came out from the chapel, looked around at the shadows, and slowly began to walk through the streets. I glanced up at Ezio, who nodded, his face hidden by the shadow of his hood. We followed Jacopo from the rooftops, the only thing betraying our stealth was our crunching footsteps in the thinning snow. The older man was weaving through the buildings as if trying to lose someone in all of the turns, but from our eagle view, we saw everything. Finally, he made his way out of the city walls, and Ezio and I dropped to ground level to follow on foot. We kept a fair distance, so far that it was hard to see Jacopo even in the milky moonlight. Ezio seemed to want it that way, however, and we took slow steps after. Finally, just out of the city walls, a path lead down to a giant structure that was sunk into the ground in levels, a large circle engraved in the earth. At the bottom was a circle of men dressed in dark robes, and I swallowed back the fear in my throat. These were the big guys.

As Ezio and I watched from the very top edge, Jacopo went running down into the middle, talking quietly with the others. Now was the perfect time to attack.

However, Ezio gripped my shoulder, having me look at him. His gaze was hard as he squeezed my shoulder. "Go and find the mercenaries and come back. I'm not going to get out of this by myself."

I frowned. "You're not going down there alone."

"It'll keep our enemies distracted while you and the mercenaries act as reinforcement."

Shaking my head, I reached and grabbed his hand, moving it aside. "Don't be a hero, stupid."

"Just go find them. I'll be okay, I promise." He smiled that unfair smile at me, and I couldn't argue. I pressed my lips together and nodded. Not wasting any time, I turned and took off through the thin layer of snow, intent on finding the mercenaries who should have been somewhere nearby. It didn't take me long to find them—they were waiting in hiding just by some broken hay carts. I beckoned them quietly, telling them of Ezio's foolhardy plan before we made our way back towards the Teatro Romano. As we approached the entrance, however, I saw a flood of guards swooping down into the bowl shaped structure. I panicked, calling for the mercenaries to act faster, and we all made our move forward, blades drawn. We ignored the entrance, knowing that that was probably were most of the guards were, so we ran to the edge, staring down into the structure.

There were so many candles on small perches down at the bottom, all along the edges, lighting the area quiet nicely. My eyes caught onto the white of his robes, more pure than even that of the snow, and I breathed in relief. He was surrounded, however, and without help, he would be in trouble. I called out for the mercenaries to attack, to which they all yelled out and charged forward, jumping down the levels of the Teatro Romano. I followed behind them, my palms sweaty as I gripped my dagger. This would end soon.

But then, amongst the pure white, there was red. Blood red. Splattered like paint across the purity of the snow. And Ezio screamed like Death had gripped the assassin's throat. That scream made my blood run cold, my body freezing, my mind drawing blanks at every turn. He fell backwards, landing in the blood stained snow, his mouth open wide as his eyes were pinned up on the stars above.

I was moving, pushing through the charging mercenaries. My heartbeat seemed to be the only thing driving in my mind, pounding away everything else. Two guards rushed up to me to stop my advancement to Ezio. My hands were no longer clammy or shaky I swung the blade at one of the guards, slitting his throat. All in the same movement, I changed the direction of the blade and buried it to the hilt in the other guards gut, twisting it around inside of him. Abandoning the blade, pushing aside my two dying foes, I rushed up to Ezio, knowing my back was covered my Mario's men.

Ezio's golden eyes were trained on me as I ran up to him. "Narina," he whispered weakly. The stain of blood was growing under him.

"Shut up!" I demanded, stepping through the red snow. "Don't talk." I collapsed next to him, my fingers already unbuckling his armor and robes.

"Narina," he tried again.

"Shut up!" There were tears streaming down my face, dripping down onto his stained red robes. I managed to pry off his armor and clothes, laying them out flat so he wouldn't have to lay in the snow. With gentle, shaking hands, I managed to roll him over onto his stomach. He cried out in pain several times, trying to push me away, but I was determined. However, once I had him over, I had to pause for a moment to gather my bearings. A huge cut was gouged into Ezio's back, so deep that I could see the white of his meat and muscles. I felt sick to my stomach at the sight. My shaking hands fumbled with his pouches that I had put aside, trying to find his medicine. With the last bottle of the medicine from the doctor, I cleaned out the wound the best I could, and wrapped it up tightly, hoping that the bleeding would stop.

His eyes had closed, but his breaths remained ragged the entire time I was working. The mercenaries had done a wonderful job of keeping the guards away from us, making it safe. "Ezio," I muttered as I carefully rolled him back over. He opened his eyes, and they were hazy as if he had just woken up from a nap, his usually sun-kissed skin pale and sweaty. "I need you to stay awake." I quickly put his robes back on, forgetting the armor, trying to keep him warm.

"Help me sit up," he muttered.

I shook my head. "No, you might hurt yourself."

When he tried to sit up on his own, I opted to help him out anyway, seeing how he was going to one way or the other. I tried to take most of his weight onto me as I slowly helped him sit up straight, his breaths hitching every so often. He seemed to struggling for composure, his body swaying slightly.

His shaking hands were suddenly at my neck, his fingers twisting into my hair as if to anchor himself in consciousness. With a low grunt, he looked into my eyes, leaning towards me so that his forehead resting against mine. "Are you okay?" He asked in a low whisper.

I couldn't help but let a sob escape from my lips, tearing pouring down my face, all my defenses breaking. How could he be so concerned with me when he was nearly dying? I hugged him tightly as if to promise that I would never let go. He hugged me back for a split moment before he pushed at me, breathing out "Jacopo".

"Don't even worry about him," I said, shaking my head. Vaguely, I recalled watching them make their escape when I had been running to Ezio. "Let him run. We'll catch him some other day. We have to get you to a doctor now."

He was shaking his head halfway through my sentence. "No," he murmured. "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay here. I'm tired."

I wiped at my face, rubbing the tears away. "Ezio."

His other hand went to my neck, his eyes closing. "Stay here with me."

I knew he wouldn't be able to walk. And I knew that I wouldn't be able to carry his weight by myself. So staying by him was the best that I could do. And nothing else at that point mattered; just as long as we were together. I closed my eyes too. This was as good as it was going to get. And despite all of the blood, that crimson red was suddenly so beautiful in the face of death. Ezio moved his face to the crook of my neck, his his hands dropping to my lap, where mine caught them, holding them. "Narina."

"I'm here," I whispered, leaning my head against his. "I'm here."

Like my voice was a sort of a lullaby, he hummed and pressed his lips at my throat. "Let's not paint with blood," he whispered, his words warm on my skin. "Assassin or no, I prefer dancing with you."

I laughed, more out of hysterics than anything, but I was glad to see that he was still acting like himself. That was all I could ask for. "For once, we actually agree on something."

* * *

**So there you go! :3 The dancing chapter. I loved this chapter in the original one, and it was definitely fun to write again!**

**And yes, I have taken a few liberties for this story and I am changing a few minor details (like how Ezio didn't go around and kill ALL of Jacopo's men, or even Jacopo for that matter). The thing is is that I need a filler here soon, and offing Jacopo and his lackies seemed like a good filler. :)**

**As said before, this past week was hell, but really fun at the same time! :D Made some good memories and such!**

**I'm going to get ACIII tomorrow at midnight! :D I'M SO EXCITED! And on another happy note, I get to go back home this Thursday and SEE MY BEST FRIEND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO MONTHS! I'M SO EXCITED! This upcoming week is going to be so jizz-worthy that I'm going to die in complete bliss!**

**Much love! Thanks for the read, and please review! :3 **


	14. Piecing Together the Puzzle

**-So. Here's the next chapter! :D Sorry for the slight delay—life was busy this past week!**

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
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* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Piecing Together the Puzzle**

* * *

With the help of the mercenaries, who had finished the battle with record time, we managed to get Ezio up off of the ground. And much to our dismay, the doctor was closed for the night in San Gimignano. One of the mercenaries tidied up my sloppy bandages with newer ones and we set out for Monteriggioni. The men heaved the assassin into the saddle behind me where he slumped against me, his arms going around my waist. To keep him from falling off, I went at a slow trot. He came in and out of consciousness, muttering my name, some nonsense, and then fall silent again, his arms tightening around my waist.

When Monteriggioni finally came into view, I nearly wept with relief. Many of Mario's men had rode on ahead, so they were waiting for us when we arrived. They immediately and gently lifted Ezio from the horse, taking him to the doctor before I could even dismount. I helped the stable hand put away our riding supplies before I took off into the small city, heading straight for the doctors.

Much as I feared, I wasn't allowed in the shop while the doctor worked. I would have to check up on Ezio in the morning. Knowing I wasn't going to get much sleep, I went up to the villa and laid in bed the rest of the night, sickened with worry and lost in thought. The sun was peaking into my room what seemed like moments later, and I quickly rushed out of the villa, taking off into the city. The doctor still didn't want to allow me in, but after a few pleas, he gave in, giving me entry into the shop.

I rushed in to the bed, Ezio laying on his side and actually looking peaceful, although there was no mistaking the dark bags under his eyes.. As I stood next to him, realizing that he was asleep, I reached for his hand and squeezed it, hoping the somehow channel the fact that I was there through his unconscious mind.

"Was it bad?" I asked the doctor who walked in after me.

"I'm afraid so," the man mumbled, shaking his head solemnly. "He will not be able to walk for many days—perhaps even weeks. And even then, it's going to take him some time to function like he did before."

_"Jesu_," I whispered, holding tighter onto the warm hand between mine.

"All we can do is let him rest now," he suggested. "Give him a few days for me to monitor his behavior and health, and we'll see what we can do with moving him up to the Villa."

_"Bene_." I nodded to the doctor. "Can I stay in here with him?"

He sighed. "For now. I will have to put more herbs on him soon, though."

"Thank you."

The doctor began to search through the room, mumbling about some herb. I watched Ezio sleep for a long moment, realizing that, even in his slumber, his breaths were still slightly harbored. Images of what the wound had looked like flashed in my mind, and I figured that many muscles and other important functions had been severed by the blade. After I had sat there for about an hour, one of his breaths hitched and his face scrunched together. I sucked in a breath of hope, anticipating those golden eyes of his. A gasp flitted from my mouth when they did open, gazing up at me for a split second before then closed again. Disappointed, I leaned my head against the side of the bed as he fell back asleep. It was around that time the doctor kicked me out and continued on with his work.

Before I left, I turned to the doctor. "If he wakes up," I insisted, "tell him that if he doesn't get better soon, I'm going to be very upset with him."

"Yes, Narina." He gently pushed me out the door. "Now go home—if anything big happens, I'll make sure to send someone up to get you."

"_Grazie_." He shut the door. I stared helplessly at the wood, wanting nothing more than to just crash through it and stay by Ezio's side. Glancing up at the sky, I huffed out and decided to go grab a bite to eat before the breakfast meal would be cleaned up.

* * *

Ezio must not have gotten my request. When I went down that evening, the doctor quickly ushered me out of the building, saying that Ezio's condition was falling, that he had a fever and the wound was festering. It took all of my willpower to not push aside the scrawny man and go to my friend's side. Instead, I went back to the villa to scour through all the books Mario had in his library, hoping to find some sort of medical information that could help save my assassin. I felt hopeless.

His fever rose for a few days, so high that I thought he might just perish. I finally ignored the doctor's requests for me to stay out of the shop and stayed at Ezio's bedside, getting him to drink water frequently as I would rub a cold rag across his heated skin. The only few times that he actually woke up, he was delusional and would mumbled complete nonsense. Finally, when the fever started to fall, his condition started to get better, and he finally woke up enough to smile at me. Which made me nearly cry with relief, glad to see that he was actually going to survive.

Another week passed and his fever completely disappeared. With help, he was even able to sit up, although he would cringe in pain. It took some convincing, but the doctor finally allowed that Ezio could return back to the villa. Mario came and helped us carry his nephew up to the house, and Ezio was happier to be in the villa again. For our sake, we put him in my room on the first floor so that, when he _did_ start walking, he wouldn't have to take any stairs. I had to sleep in the room with him, just in case something went terribly wrong in the dark of the night.

Winter came and went, Ezio slowly gaining his strength back, although there wasn't much he was allowed to do in the cold weather (the doctor refused it—not to mention, his mother and sister were keeping a very strict eye on him). We couldn't afford for him to get sick again. And since his recovery was a slow progress, our exercises would consists of just walking around on the first floor of the house, my hand on his arm to catch him in he fell. He didn't seem to like all of the help at first, but, despite how often he insisted that he try for himself, I knew that he was grateful for our assistance.

Although I was happy that Ezio was alive and becoming well, taking care of him was hard work. I had to help him walk around every day, make sure he was eating enough, and, despite my best efforts to avoid it, I occasionally bathed him (strictly his back—he could take care of himself elsewhere). When spring came, Ezio was finally able to stand on his own, hobbling around a bit. I knew from that point on, it would be a fast process of recovery because he had a taste of victory. By the beginning of summer, Ezio was already running around, rebuilding his lost muscles. It did take him until late autumn, however, that he was back to his perfect self, strong and fit, and perhaps even a better fighter than he had been before.

The one thing I found myself most happy about was that I got my own room back. The months that Ezio had been in there—he had destroyed it. I spent a good whole day cleaning up his mess, wondering how one man could cause such chaos.

* * *

I looked up from a novel that I was reading, catching sight of Ezio in my doorway, smirking at me, in his common clothes. Putting the book down on my lap, I tilted my head. "Hey."

"_Salute_." He stepped into the room, hand casually on his hips. "What are you reading?"

"A story about a man from Spain going on a quest across the countries to find his Goddess." I looked at the cover. "It says that it's based on a real story, but I'm not so sure."

"Why is that?" He gazed out the window.

Shrugging, I closed the book and placed it on the bedside table. "I'm not sure. Seems like a bunch of preachy nonsense to me." I patted the edge of the bed. "Come. Sit. Let me rub some more herbs on your back."

"It's healed just fine," he argued, but indeed came and sat on the bed, lifting his shirt over his head.

"The doctor told me that these herbs have some sort of heating effect," I explained, reaching for the small tub of cream the doctor had mixed for me. "It should rid of your aches and pains. Didn't you say something about it hurting the other day."

"Yeah, I guess." He threw the shirt onto the floor beside him, giving me a full view of his back. I couldn't help but wince. Sure, it had healed just fine, but the scar that had been left behind was no pretty sight. Despite the year of healing, it still looked freshly healed, pink and bulged.

"You have one nasty scar," I mumbled, rubbing the cream onto his back, feeling the warming effect on my own fingers as I began to spread it. "You're lucky you survived."

"I know, I know," he droned. He had to have been sick and tired of being told to be more careful—his sister had made sure of that.

"You look excited," I pointed out, changing the subject as I rubbed more cream onto his back. "Are you planning on doing something?"

"Yes!" Ezio grinned at me over my shoulder. "It's been nearly a year since I've been stuck in this small town—I want to go out and stretch my legs again."

"Fair enough. What do you plan to do? Here, I'm done."

He stood from the bed, picking up his top. I stared up at him as he pulled the shirt back on, tucking it under his belt. "I'm going to hunt down Jacopo."

Confused, I furrowed my brow at him. "Do you know where he is?"

"_Si!_ I have had the mercenaries search for him these past few weeks. They said that he is most likely in Florence at this point of time." He grinned. "Not to mention, there's a few of his fellow Templars that we must take care of as well."

I nodded. "May I go too?"

"Of course! You seem to be the only thing that's keeping me alive these days!"

Finally, I smiled back. "Great! I've been itching to go do something fun. I've been stuck here along side you! When do we leave?"

"Here in a few days, tomorrow at soonest," Ezio offered. "It all depends."

A thought hit me, and I pouted. "It's nearly winter again, though."

"We can manage. Snow doesn't come in massive heaps here anyway."

"Fine." I stood from the bed. "I say we leave tomorrow—the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go do some more fun things!"

"Good point. We'll visit Leonardo and Paola while we're there."

"Sounds like a plan." I smiled, walking to the door. "Let's go eat dinner and get some sleep then."

* * *

As we rode into Florence the next day, the sky got all cloudy and it started to rain. I glared over at Ezio as we walked through the gates. With his hood, he was protected—he had convinced me to leave my cloak back home because "it was going to be a nice day". He innocently shrugged at me, giving me a not-so-sorry smirk. Huffing, I pushed my hair back from my face and trudged forward, following Ezio through the moist city.

My boots were soaked by the time we made it over to Leonardo's, and I was drenched in the moments that passed with us standing outside the door. "Hm," Ezio mused, scratching his stubbly chin. "He must not be home." Groaning, wipe at my brow and shivered in the cold.

"Let's head over to Paola's, then," I suggested. "I'm going to get sick if I'm out in this rain any longer!"

"God, stop complaining. Here." He pulled me close to him, making my body tense as his warmth reached out to me. Once I was there, snuggled into his side, he lifted his cape up over my head, making a sufficient covering. Still, my heart was beating at a rather unfair pace.

"Thanks," I muttered as we began to walk, kicking up the puddles gathering in the streets. We made our way over towards the Duomo. I tried to keep my strides with his, but with him being so tall, it was nearly impossible to do so. So I scurried along with him, reaching up to hold up the cape so he didn't have to.

Paola must have gotten downwind of our arrival, for she was waiting at the door, holding it open for us. I nearly broke free from the safety of Ezio's cape, but I realized I'd probably get more wet that way in the long run.

"Welcome back you two," the woman greeted with a kind smile as we ducked into the warm bordella. "It is good to see you in such good condition, Ezio."

"And you, Paola," Ezio greeted with a charming grin. I stepped away from him and began to ruffle my hair, shaking out the water.

"A rather gloomy day for traveling, no?" Paola laughed softly. "Come sit and I'll get you some warm tea." As the woman ushered us through the Bordella, Ezio asked her if she had gotten any word of Jacopo being in the city. "Actually," she admitted, "you'd be surprised to know that I have gathered plenty of information on him."

"And?" We sat at a couch with a low table in front of it, several candles glowing there. Paola asked a girl walking by to get us some tea before she turned back to Ezio.

"He is in Florence for a very short time, so you have arrived just in time," she explained. "From what knowledge that I have gained, I am guessing that he is attending a noble man's party this evening before he leaves in the morning to travel to Venice."

"Will his men be there?" Ezio asked, quietly thanking the girl who had brought back the tea. I sipped at the warm liquid quietly, grateful for the hospitality.

"Unfortunately none except for one. They have already left for Venice early today. The one left behind is named Francesco Salvati. Do not worry of him—he will be a weak foe."

"Alright." Ezio rolled the cup between his hands. "So we'll attend this party and find them."

"Of course."

"You won't get in," I argued, frowning at Ezio over my cup. "They know your hood and your face. It will be impossible."

"I never said that I would go in the front door," he pointed out, smiling at me.

"Then we sneak in?"

"I'll sneak in," he corrected. "_You'll_ be going through the front door. You'll get by without a problem." He held up a hand to stop me when I went to argue. "From there, you can scope out the house and give me a good idea of where I can sneak in. I won't wear my robes and we'll be lost in the crowds."

I took it all in, trying to envision it. "Well, okay, that might work," I allowed.

"It's the best option we have right now," he concluded, nodding to Paola, who was smiling proudly at us for calculating our own plan.

"So, I guess the only thing to do now," she hummed, "is to go shopping for some party clothes."

I glanced down at myself, realizing that I was indeed a poor excuse of a party-goer. Pouting, I looked up to Ezio, who was pulling at his robes, realizing that he was in the same boat as I.

"I suppose we have to," Ezio agreed, sighing, his hand lifting up his money pouch as he tossed it in the air, catching it again. "Goodbye, my beautiful florins."

Paola laughed and wished us luck. Since the sun was on it's way down, we had to be quick about finding clothes. After I borrowed a cloak from Paola, Ezio and I braved the rain and went running down the streets to the nearest tailor shop.

Ezio held the door open for me as I ducked into the shop. The man looked up from his front desk, smiling. "Welcome, welcome! What can I do to help you?"

"We're looking for clothes to attend a party tonight," Ezio explained, lowering his hood.

"A party! So then a big, elegant dress for the young lady then?" The man was already over to me, taking a gentle hold of my arm. "My wife will help you find the perfect gown! With our help, you two will be the most beautiful couple at the party." I glanced up at Ezio, surprised at the title of "couple", but Ezio had missed it and was just looking around the shop. Pressing my lips together, I supposed that we could live by that lie tonight—it would make things easier.

The man took me to the backroom, where a round woman sat. She gazed up at us as the man gestured to me. "This is a customer who needs to look very pretty for a party tonight."

With such great excitement, the woman jumped up from her chair and approached me, taking a hold of my shoulder and leading me over to the dresses, talking so fast that I missed several of her words. Once we were in front of the dresses, she spun me around to look at my face. After she complimented my blue eyes, she started digging into the dresses. At several points of time, she would hold out a cloth to me, stare at it, and then take it away, discarding it as an option. She talked so fast, worked so quickly, that I couldn't focus on anything but her. I just watched her in silent awe as she looked through all of the gowns that she had.

Finally, she gasped, pausing for a moment and giving me a chance to breathe. "_This_," she whispered, "is the perfect dress!" She held it up, a big blue dress swished. It was very elegant—much nicer than the clothes that the Mancini's had ever dressed me in. The underskirt was white, peeping out of the slit in the blue skirt in the front. The bodice was decorated with fine sewing, golden buttons pressed into the material. "Let's get you in it!" The woman insisted, ushering me to a back room where she peeled off my clothes. "What are you doing dressing up like a boy, anyway?" She asked as my boots were torn off.

I smiled. "Makes riding horses easier across the countryside."

The woman muttered something under her breath before she had me naked. Then she threw the dress over my head, the material rubbing and brushing against my skin. With a few adjustments and making sure the dress would stay on, the woman began to tighten the material and make sure the skirts fell just right. The cut of the bodice was enough to spare me modesty. As the woman tied up the back of the dress (so tight that I could hardly breathe), I fiddled with the sleeves of the dress, finding the designs intriguing to look at. It had to have been expensive—I hoped Ezio had enough because I really liked it. Once the dress was on, the woman seemed very satisfied with herself. She gave me some small slippers to put my feet in, and folded my old clothes and place them in my arms.

"You are stunning," the woman breathed, her round face scrunching in her smile. "Your husband must be pleased to have such a beautiful wife. And he is quite handsome as well! Imagine how beautiful your babies will be!"

A deep blush colored my cheeks. "I-I...he's not..." I paused, biting my lip as I smoothed out the front of the dress. "Thank you."

She ushered me out of the room, back into the front room where Ezio had been stripped of his robes as well. I stifled a giggle—he hardly looked any different than he had years ago when he had only been seventeen, wearing clothes that looked very similar, only with a cloak draped over his frame like many noble men did. The thing that made me laugh was the hat perched on his head, something similar to what Vieri had worn many years before. So it made him look like an ass.

Hearing my laughter, Ezio looked over his shoulder at me. He seemed to be about to say some snark comment, but when he gazed at me, he paused, his eyes widening. "Narina." His eyes traveled down that flow of material. "You...look rather nice."

I raised a brow, still smirking. "And you are looking quite nice yourself! The hat it a little silly, though."

He reached up, touch the dark cap. "Well it's better than nothing." He looked over my dress again, a pained look coming over his face. "How much?"

"Don't worry about the pricing," the man insisted, buttoning up Ezio's dark vest that had golden thread decorating the material. "I can promise you that it is very cheap!" When he told us the price, I had to take a moment to breathe and rub my forehead. I guess one-thousand florins was cheap for a noble. Lucky for us, Ezio had plenty of money, and with our old clothes in hand, we made our way back to the brothel. Paola loved our outfits and had some of her girls pin up my hair and paint make-ups on my face. Ezio shaved his prickly beard, letting Paola slick his hair back out of his face and tucked under his silly cap. Once we were all made up, Ezio and I began to strap hidden weapons under our clothes, Ezio's hidden blade staying on his wrist.

With us both ready to go, Paola told us the location of the party and gave us hugs. "Be careful," she advised, seeing us to the door.

"We always are." With that, Ezio and I began to go through the streets, heading north to the large palazzo of a very wealthy man. Night had fallen, the streets darkened and only spots of candles showed us the way, the moon hiding behind clouds. The rain had stopped, but it looked like it would snow sometime through out the night. I was expecting it to be big, but when I saw it towering over me, I could hardly believe my eyes. How could someone have enough money to live so extravagantly?

Ezio stopped and pulled me to the shadows of the nearby buildings. "Alright, Narina. You're going to go inside and check all the windows—very nonchalantly, might I add—then come back outside to tell me which window."

"You don't think that they'll be suspicious?"

Ezio smiled. "Work your women wiles, and you won't have to worry about it."

I pouted. "Fine. I'll be back as soon as I'm able."

"Narina."

"What?" I turned back to him after taking a few steps away.

"You need to take off the necklace," he muttered, holding out his hand. "People here know the Auditore's crest."

I glanced down at the round pendant with the intricate carving of the bird and symbol of the family that had changed my entire life. I knew that he was right, but I found myself reluctant to take it off. I never had throughout the entire years after the incident. But I slowly I unhooked it from my neck, handing it over to Ezio who was looking so sadly. "I'll take good care of it," he promised.

Smiling, I nodded and turned back to the house. Taking Ezio's suggestion to heart, I made sure that my hips were swaying as I walked up to the door. The doorman there kept his watching eye on me. I smiled brightly at him, curtsying as I gave him a civil greeting. With that, he greeted me back, and gave me a sweeping arm to enter the building. Thanking him, I fought the urge to grin back at Ezio and stepped inside.

The place was beautiful! There were marble statue's everywhere, the most finely decorated furniture. Paintings and grand tapestries hung on the walls, great chandeliers of candles hanging from the high ceiling. I tried to seem unimpressed about it all, but it was so grand, I felt like a gawking peasant. Everything seemed to be in perfect condition, everything polished so thoroughly that I could see myself in them. There were groups of very pristine people everywhere, laughing and drinking wine out of shining glasses. I swallowed, realizing that, despite my fancy clothes, I had no business being with all of these big-shots. Pushing aside the realization, I focused on my mission and decided that any window on the first floor was out of the question. Ezio would have to climb.

I dodged around the crowd, making my way to the giant staircase. Only one or two steps up, I was stopped by a man walking by. "Why, hello there!" He greeted, his speech slurred slightly.

Leaning away from him, I gently took my hand from his grip. "Hello, sir."

"I've never seen you around before," he continued, grinning sloppily. "What's your name?"

I swallowed, running through my mind of what to say. "I'm sorry; I'm terribly busy at the moment. I'm trying to find my husband." It was a good excuse, wasn't it? I could pretend for something like this.

"Husband?" The man guffawed, making me jump slightly. "My God, that man is the luckiest man in the entire world! But tell me this, does he satisfy you? 'Cause I could, right here right now."

Tired of the man, I glared at him and took another step up the stairs. "He does. Every night. Now if you would excuse me." I scampered up the stairs, wanting to avoid any more encounters as such. Things would be better once Ezio was in the party. The second floor was less populated, but every room I passed, there were people in them, talking and laughing. Seeing that the floor wouldn't work either, I found another flight of stairs and quietly went up them. This floor was empty, although candles still lit the halls and rooms. My footsteps seemingly very loud and unwelcome. I quickly went into the nearest room, going to the window to see where I was exactly. I was in a room facing the back courtyard—I'd have to go to a room on the other side of the building. When I turned to leave, I nearly screamed when I found someone staring back at me. I froze for a long moment before I realized that I was looking at my own reflection in a mirror, a relieved breath bellowing out of my chest. I didn't even recognize myself! Wearing a dress was rare enough as it was, so to see myself in makeup and hair neatly pulled back was extremely weird. The only thing that gave away that it was me and allowed me to believe it was the small, dark mole under the woman's eye, her blue eyes. I looked at myself, thinking that I actually did look pretty, before I caught a hold of myself and left the room in a rush, going to an appropriate room to peer out to the streets. I peered down into the dark streets and saw Ezio waiting in the shadow of the building.

I leaned out of the window, feeling the air biting at my face. "Ezio!" I called down. "Up here!"

The hat tipped back as his golden eyes flashed to me. I waved at him to climb up the building. He glanced at the doorman, who was busy with other guests, and ran for the building, hauling himself up in powerful pulls. Taking a step away from the window, I turned to make sure there was no one there witness Ezio clamoring up through the window.

My breath lodged in my throat when I caught sight of someone, and, no, it wasn't me. A man in dark robes stood in the door, his black eyes pinned on me. In his hand was a dagger. I glanced up at him, leaning back against the window sill, trying to silently tell Ezio to wait a minute.

"I-I'm sorry, _Ser_," I managed to say. "Am I not allowed to up here on the third floor? I wanted to get some fresh air."

The man wasn't moved. He raised his blade into the hair, pointing it at me. "Enough of the charade," he said slowly. "I know who you really are, Assassin, why you are here."

I tensed, clenching my teeth. "You are mistaken," I said.

"You will not kill Jacopo—he will finish you this time!" The man lunged forward, and I dodged the attack, ending up on the other side of the room. This man must have been Francesco Salvati, looking out for his ally. I lifted up my skirt to grab at the dagger strapped to my ankle, preparing to defend myself if necessary. "It was foolish for you to come here," the man spat. "You're in much too far! You understand nothing!" He lunged again, but I had my blade ready blocking his attack. However, he seemed to anticipate my move and his free hand grabbed onto my wrist, yanking me off balance. My dagger dropped to the ground, landing with a loud clatter. Struggling against his hold, I was surprised when he slapped me, making my head spin as his pulled at my hair, scattering the pins as he pulled violently on the strands, pushing me to the nearby wall.

"Get off of me!" I growled, still struggling, my cheek stinging. I was surprised when he actually did let go of me, but I saw that it had been involuntary—Ezio was in the room, holding the man to the floor, his hidden blade sunk into Salvati's throat. The Templar gurgled a mess of nonsense before he stilled, his eyes fading. The blade was pulled from his throat, blood bubbling from the wound. Then Ezio was in front of me, his hands touching my face.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked, looking over me.

"No." I stared up at the assassin, my brows knitting together. "Have you been drinking?" I could smell it on his breath—where had he gotten the alcohol?

"A friendly fellow came stumbling out of the house," he explained with a lazy grin, "and offered me his drink I wasn't going to refuse—that would have been rude."

Sighing I rolled my eyes. "As long as you can think straight, then we'll be fine." I picked up my dagger from the floor and put it back in it's place. "Let's go downstairs, see if we can't find Jacopo."

Ezio stared at me for a long moment. "Your hair..."

"Oh." Right. "Does it look bad?" I asked, reaching up and feeling that half of my hair was still pinned up, half falling down my back.

"Just let it all down for now," Ezio muttered. "We don't have time to pin it all up again." As if I was not able, Ezio reached up around my head to help me unpin the rest of my hair, each wavy strand falling down around my shoulders.

Once all of it was down, I shook my hair out and huffed. "Does it look okay?" I didn't want our cover to be blown.

He stared down at me, his golden eyes studying me, every bit of my face. "You're beautiful," he whispered, the slight haze in his eyes overridden with some other, unnamed emotion. Suddenly, I realized that he, too, was extremely beautiful, despite the stupid hat perched upon his head. I took a breath, trying to find some sort of adequate response to his compliment, but his hands were tangling back into my loose hair, his breath washing against my face. His lips were warm, his hands holding my head steady. My hands reached for him, wrapping around his waist. When I responded, his hot tongue ran along my lip, my mouth opening just the slightest, but enough for him to pressed his tongue against mine, allowing me a taste of the wine that he had been drinking before. My eyes fluttered shut as I focused past the taste of wine, narrowing down to just his warmth, his smell, _his _taste. None of it was fair—he was so perfect.

The kiss was broken as Ezio breathed, his forehead pressed against mine, his breaths fanning across my chest, seeping down the small opening to my cleavage. Then he was kissing me again, more gently but somehow more deep. My heart was beating so fast I felt like it was about to burst from my chest. His hands dropped down to my waist where he pulled me closer to him, his kiss intensifying as he angled his head, spearing his tongue deeper. He was going to devour me.

A loud crash that echoed from downstairs made both of us recoil away, our attention diverted to the hallway. "Sounds like things are getting a little out of hand," Ezio murmured.

I nodded, keeping my eyes from both him and the dead man on the floor. "Let's go down and strike while there's chaos going on." I dared a glance up at him, my cheeks growing warm as I tried to fight back the confusing feelings that I had about my best friend. "Are you okay to fight?"

"I'm' not drunk," he pointed out, raising a brow. "It was just one glass. I'll be fine. Come. Let's go."

We made our way down the stairs, leaving Francesco as a surprise for later on in the night. The first floor was in havoc, large arguments being had as things were beginning to be broken. A rather large man was trying to calm everyone down, and I suspected that he was the host of the party. _Poor man_, I thought, seeing how the large amount of guests was becoming too much for him. Ezio grabbed my arm, drawing my attention.

"There." Ezio was pointing across the room. I peered in the direction, catching sight of the older man with white beard and dark robes. He was standing in a small group of older men, but even then, he looked rather uncomfortable, his beady eyes darting over the crowd.

"How are we going to do this?" I wondered, gazing up at Ezio. "He's placing himself in a place that we cannot reach."

"His back's completely open," Ezio argued. "All it takes to kill a man is to stab him in the right place. An open back allows me to reach that place." A servant walked up to us at that point, handing us glasses of wine. We took them with bright smiles and small "thank you"s.

"And he won't be aware of you how?" The old man was nervous enough that anything out of the ordinary would be seen as a threat. I sipped at the fine wine, finding it the similar flavor that had been on Ezio's lips. The thought made me blush and I decided I didn't want anymore wine.

Ezio grinned down at me, ruffling my hair. "I can be sneaky if I want to. Just watch." He downed all of his drink and handed me the empty glass. I sighed, realizing that before we left the house tonight, Ezio would make sure he had a few drinks. As Ezio looked over the crowd, trying to find him a way to his target, I stopped the next maid walking by to give her the glasses, thanking her under my breath. As she stepped away, a man took her spot, his grin wide.

"Good evening, _bella mia_. Would you care for a dance?"

"Um," I stuttered, wringing my hands together. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ezio's head slowly turn from his target and towards me and my new friend. "That's very kind of you, but..."

"But?"

Ezio's thick arm came over my shoulder, pulling me to his side. Playing the part, I leaned into him, adjusting my gaze down. "She's mine," Ezio growled.

The man assessed Ezio for a long moment, finally deciding that he would lose the battle. With a grunt, the man turned and stalked away. Breathing out in relief, I leaned away from Ezio. "Thank you," I genuinely said, looking up at him. But he avoided my gaze, his golden eyes trained across the crowd as his arm fell from my shoulder. He didn't say anything as he began to walk away, weaving through the crowds. I frowned at the thought that he might be mad at me for attracting attention from the men. Leave it to somebody like him to be hypocritical.

However, he was still attending to the mission, and that was fine by me. Or at least, he was getting on it. He had gone straight for a maid with a glass of wine, where he downed another one and gave the empty cup back to her. She stared up at him in shock, but he continued moving through the crowd towards Jacopo. What was his deal?

Ezio had been right about Jacopo being completely oblivious. Even if the man was cautious, he wasn't cautious enough. He was mid-sentence when Ezio stepped up behind him, and suddenly Jacopo froze, his eyes widening. I watched the old man as his mouth hung open, his shaking hands pressing against his stomach. Then he fell to his knees, gasping for air, before he sprawled out on the ground, scattering the group of men he had been standing with. Within seconds, a pool of blood formed around him.

Everyone was suddenly screaming, the crowd surging towards the front door, away from Jacopo. Ezio was nowhere to be seen, obviously slipping back into the crowd before Jacopo had fallen. I tried to fight against the flow of the crowd, but it seemed impossible. I was being shoved and pushed, everyone trying to get themselves to safety, knowing that there was a killer in the house. I vaguely heard the host of the party shouting for everyone to remain calm, but his efforts were futile.

I finally made my way to the staircase were a handful of people came rushing down in a panic. I looked over the crowd, trying to find that stupid hat perched upon Ezio's head. Within a few moments, I saw the flash of his golden eyes. He gestured with his head for us to go with the crowd and meet outside. Nodding, I pushed my way into the panicking crowd and found myself out in the cold night air. Snow had started to fall, the small flakes fluttering in the air. I went to the side of the building, trying to act the innocent woman as the guards starting to rush into the plaza. Ezio broke from the crowd and approached me, another glass of wine in his hand.

My head shook disapprovingly. "Haven't you had enough for tonight?" I scolded as he stood next to me.

Tilting his head back, he drank it all in one gulp, then dropped the glass so it shattered on the ground. I jumped away from the shattering glass, throwing him a glare. "It's a party, isn't it?" He smiled down at me, the effects of the drinks clear in his eyes.

"Whatever. We need to leave now."

To escape the eye of the guards that were trying to provide some stability in the chaos, Ezio and I took the dark alleyways and scuttled through the shadows, making our way across the city and back to Paola's through the fluttering snow.

* * *

When we were back, Ezio didn't even give time to celebrate our victory with Paola. He simply brushed past her, beckoned the nearest group of courtesans, and disappeared up the stairs with the giggling women. Paola and I watched after him until he disappeared, and she turned her gaze to me. "He's been drinking, I see."

"Yeah." I folded my arms, shaking my head. "But we were successful. Jacopo is dead, along with Francesco."

"Good. We are well on our way to victory." Paola gestured to the back room. "Do you wish for something to eat?"

I was rather hungry. Accepting her offer, I followed her to the kitchen, trying to ignore the growing knot inside of my stomach that was much different than hunger.

* * *

After the meal was finished, I thanked Paola for her hospitality and decided to go to bed, feeling unsettled. When I walked into my room, I paused in the door way as my eyes pinned onto my bed. Laying in the middle of the covers was a golden chain, threaded through a round pendant with the Auditore crest etched into it, lined with gold metal work. Federico's necklace.

Slowly, I went to the bed, scooping up the necklace into my hand as I stared at the crest. Curling up on the bed, shifting the pendant in the candle light so that the gold gleamed, I began to worry why Ezio didn't give this to me beforehand, why he had opted to not even give it back to me in person at all. The whole situation told me that he was confused about something, and I was as well. There was something that had changed slowly between Ezio and I, something that had been built up until we could no longer hide it. Something that we were both scared of and refused to face. The necklace was the proof of that.

I clasped the jewelry around my neck before I stood and peeled the dress off, folding the soft material carefully and placing it at the end of the bed. Deciding that I was too tired to find something else to wear, I crawled into the covers naked and pinched out the candle, throwing myself into the darkness. Even if I had been tired, I laid there in bed for hours, running my fingers over the golden chain, the crest, trying to make sense of the puzzle that had been created from the pieces.

* * *

**So this is where the relationship kinda shifts. Let's be honest—at this point, they are both aware that they have some feelings for each other. However, there is a little rift between those feelings because of Federico, which will be more explained in the chapters to come. I have to thank MaryandMerlin for helping me with the whole Federico business!**

**Thanks for reading and please review! :3**


	15. Pinning the Blame

**-I started playing ACIII last weekend (which is why this chapter didn't get done last week), and I freaking adore it! :D but I still haven't finished it yet, so no spoilers please! :P Thanks!**

**-Prepare your anuses. This chapter is pretty damn long. (tee hee).**

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
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* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Pinning the Blame**

* * *

I woke up with the sun streaming through my window, nearly blinding me as I groaned and rubbed my eyes. It had been a long time since I had slept in. I smiled lazily, stretching and mumbling under my breath. Spring made me feel fresh and new—I was glad Winter had gone by. With Jacopo gone, Ezio and I had no other clues where to strike. So we had gone back to Monteriggioni, waiting out the winter there. Spring came at record speed that year, and, even though it rained a lot, I still loved it.

Crawling out of bed, I tried to run my hand through my tangled hair, finding it impossible and deciding that I could have some girl time with Claudia later and have her brush it. As I stepped out of my room, I caught sight of Ezio standing at the front door. There was a girl there, staring up at him with wide, dark eyes. Another of his conquests, I thought bitterly, pouting. I lingered in the middle of the hallway, listening to their conversation. But they were just saying goodbye, Ezio closing the door after the woman left. Cocking my hip and folding my arms, I watched him as he sighed and rubbed his chin, the stubble rasping under his touch.

I spoke up. "Had a long night, I see?"

He turned and looked at me, inclining his chin. "_Buon Giorno_, Narina."

Yawning, I stretched out my arms over my head. "I don't understand what you see in any of them," I muttered, "friendly tumble or no." He huffed for a response, his golden eyes locked on me. I dropped my arms. "I know you get sex out of it, but really? You have a different girl here every night it seems."

I had teased him about it before, but for some reason, he got very upset. His jaw locked and his brows furrowed. "It's none of your concern," he said starkly before he turned on his heel and stalked into Mario's office. I stared after him, sighing when I thought about how different Ezio had acted ever since the night of the party. I wasn't entirely sure what he realized, but he seemed to be trying to push me away. I understand that things had been confusing, but that didn't mean we couldn't be friends, right? Huffing, I continued to the bathing room, tending to myself before I went to breakfast.

Maria and Claudia were in the room, talking quietly to each other, which made me smile. Maria had finally gotten her life back—she would talk to all of us and smile and actually enjoy life again. Giovanni would have been happy. I greeted the mother and daughter as I sat down, scooting my chair into place as I reached out for the food placed out on the table.

They were talking about the finances of the city, what they should do with the profits. Shops could be renovated and the city could be repaired in some areas. Soon, we were all discussing the matter with great earnest, trying to decide what was best for the city itself.

"Narina." I turned and looked over my shoulder, looking at Mario who stood in doorway.

"Yes?"

"Could you come with me for a moment?"

I stood from the table. "Of course." Excusing myself, I followed after Mario down through the villa's halls to his office. Inside, Ezio was leaning against the desk, a parchment in his hands as his eyes roamed over it. "What's going on?" I wondered, looking up at Mario.

"Some of my men were poking around," Mario explained, "and they managed to find some codex pages. There's only a few, but it is a new lead. I suggest you and my nephew travel to Da Vinci to have him decipher the code."

"Oh, right." I took a step towards the desk, grabbing one of the other scrolls there. "When do we leave?"

"Whenever you would like to go."

Ezio rolled back up the parchment, tying it off before he sat it back down on the desk. "I say we leave now—the day is still young and getting to Florence only takes about four hours. If we hurry, we can even make it back to Monteriggioni by tonight."

"A one day trip?" I pouted. "Don't you want to stay and visit for a bit?"

Ezio sighed, shaking his head. "I don't think we need any luxuries this trip."

"Please?" I begged, seeing that arguing wasn't going to get me anywhere. I even pushed out my bottom lip for emphasize.

Even if he didn't look directly at me, I still seemed to get through to him. He sighed again, rubbing his chin. "Fine. But we can't spend too much time there—we have to make some move."

"Right, right." I smiled widely at Mario. "So we leave now? Should I pack or no?"

"We'll only be gone for two days tops, so no," Ezio commented, taking a step towards the door.

"Okay." I followed after him through the door, saying my soft goodbye to Mario. I made sure I stopped by the dining room to give my farewells to Maria and Claudia, Ezio right behind me.

* * *

We didn't say much on the way to Florence. I reached over into his pack at one point to pull out the codex pages to look over the encryption. I wanted to see if I could decipher them myself, but after only a few moments of staring at the pages, I gave up. Leonardo could handle that—I wanted nothing to do with it.

The golden city came into view, and my mood brightened. The spring weather was showing, the clouds gathering in the high sky, threatening to dump rain on us. Despite that fact, however, I was overly excited to see Leonardo again. I felt like we didn't visit him enough. We dismounted our horses and left them at the stables, melting into the crowds of the city. We passed by the giant, empty Auditore villa, and I couldn't help but stare up at the windows, thinking back on how many things had changed since then.

We approached the workshop quickly, standing in the entryway. Ezio applied his usual two-knocks before he put his palm to the metal handle. We both froze when a loud clank responded to Ezio's touch, our eyes turned to the handle. The door was locked. Confused, Ezio knocked again. "Leonardo?" he called out. Still, there was no answer. We looked at each other, the worry mutual.

"Ah, _Signore!_" We turned at the voice, gazing upon a young man—Leonardo's assistant, I realized. "I'm afraid that you've come at a rather inconvenient time. Master Da Vinci is no longer here."

"What? Where did he go?" Ezio asked, brow furrowing.

"He was commissioned work with a patron over in _Venezia_," the man replied. "It was such good work that he packed up and left for Venice immediately. I'm here to pack up the rest of his things to send over later."

"How long ago did he leave?" I inquired.

"Just last evening," he said with a nod. "If you are truly desperate to see him, I'm sure you could catch him in the mountains along the way to Forli."

Ezio nodded. "_Grazie,_ my friend." With that, Ezio turned for the streets again, heading in the direction of the front gates. I thanked the assistant before I scurried after the assassin, sticking to his side. Since we were planning a much larger trip, Ezio stopped by and bought some food, supplies, a few blankets, and weapons.

"Are we really going up into the mountains?" I asked him as we weaved our way through the crowds.

"_Si_."

"All the way to Venice?"

"If need be, yes."

I pouted. "I didn't pack."

His golden eyes flashed down at me. "You'll be fine."

"Will I really?" I folded my arms. "How long does it take to get to Venice, anyway?"

"I guess we'll find out." He led me out of the city, back to the stables where our horses were munching on hay.

"You don't know?" I scoffed. "Great. This is going to turn out wonderfully."

Ezio patted down his horse, untying the reigns from the post before he swung up into his saddle. I was almost surprised to see him smirking down at me—it had been an expression that had grown scarce in the past few months. "It might be fun if you don't complain as much, you know. You might be pleasantly surprised."

Snorting, I climbed up onto my own horse and settled in. "You might be surprised to know that there is very little left in the world that can pleasantly surprise me."

"I can think of a few." His smirk grew wider before he turned his horse away, leading the way down the unfamiliar road that traveled to the east. I couldn't help but pout after him, wondering just how he could keep surprising me, especially just when I would think that I had figured him out.

* * *

We were about an hour up into the mountains, traveling along a nice little path, when the sky decided to take it's chance. Heavy rain began to fall, turning the once nice road into a mess of mud and puddles. Even if I had my cloak, I was still soaked to the bone in a few minutes, my teeth clattering as my hands gripped onto the reigns tightly. For a while, we traveled in the worsened conditions, definitely slowed, but not stopped. However, Ezio glanced back at me once and saw that I was nearly shaking right out of my saddle, so he veered off the side of the road and up the small incline in the trees.

Seeing that he was going to stop, I followed after him, the beast under me having small difficulties with climbing the slippery slope. Under the cover of the trees, however, the rain wasn't so bad, but it did drip insistently through the thick canopy.

We dismounted once we had found a rather large tree, standing near it's trunk where it was slightly dry. Tying the horses there, Ezio used the saddle blankets and cloths to hang from the low branches of a nearby tree to form a small sort of tent. He had me help him look around for dry tinder and branches so that we could make a fire and warm ourselves to wait out the rain. Within ten minutes, we had a nice pile under the small covering. Ezio used a flint to spark a flame that soon crackled to life. With the dry blanket Ezio had bought back in Florence, we huddled together near the fire, my trembling fingers stretched out to the warm, flickering flame.

I despised the rain.

Ezio dug through his packs and fished us out some bread and dried meat to eat. The dripping of the rain was all around us, drowning out the rest of the world.

"Surprised yet?" Ezio teased, smiling as he bit into his bread.

"It's hardly pleasant, don't you think?" I glared up at the trees above, more specifically at the drops that pried through them. "Rain is so...so...unlikeable."

"I think it smells nice," Ezio said happily enough, even taking a deep whiff of the air. He just _had_ to mock me, didn't he? I shoved the rest of my bread in my mouth so that I didn't start an argument—it had been some time since Ezio had been in a teasing mood.

"So what's our plan now?" I asked after a small moment. "We're obviously going to stay in Venice a lot longer than we had planned to stay in Florence."

Ezio nodded, his eyes trained on the fire. "Yes. Once we talk with Leonardo, I suppose we can look around the city and see if any of our enemies are based in Venice. There's bound to be something there."

I drew my knees up to my chest, resting my chin against them. "Have you ever been to Venice?"

"Once," he answered, his voice dropping a level. "My family went there for a small vacation, which, now that I look back on it, he was probably there for an assassination. Anyway, it was back when I was a very small child, so I don't remember. Federico remembered more than I did, so he told me about it often."

"You two must have had fun."

I pressed the wrong button. Ezio's face went blank, his soft smile disappearing. I wanted to take my words back, but it was already too late. The assassin leaned away from me, moving his head so his hood hid his face. "Yeah. We did."

I mentally beat myself for hitting his sensitive spot, but I was getting sick and tired of his moody moments. Shifting my gaze to the fire, I heaved a sigh and prayed that the rain would stop soon.

* * *

After about an hour, the rain didn't stop, but it did let up, turning into a light mist. Ezio deemed it good enough to travel in and we hopped right back up onto our horses. The road was thick in mud, so we stayed to the side of it, walking through the grass along the path to avoid any problems. The day wore on, silent and boring. By the time night came, the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared. It wasn't until the stars were peeping out that Ezio declared us to stop for the night.

"Are we safe out here?" I asked as I hopped off of the horse. My thighs were sore and raw, and it hurt to walk.

"We should be fine," Ezio answered, unclipping his bags from the saddle.

"So we won't be attacked by beasts out here?"

"The horses will tell us if there is anything nearby." He dropped the pack down on the ground before he began looking around for more firewood. I looked to my horse, eying the beast incredulously. He must have sensed my doubts about my safety, for he whinnied and shook his head as if to tell me not to worry.

Once Ezio had a warm fire going, I took my spot at the edge of the fire, my small hands held out towards the warmth. I looked up at Ezio across the fire, the light peeping into his hood, making the contours of his strong face more prominent, more attractive. Looking back down the the flame, I sighed and folded my legs. "How much longer do we have, you think?"

Ezio grunted, taking his seat across the pit. "Another day. Maybe two days. It depends on the weather and how rough the trail is." He looked up at me. "You should get to bed. We're going to start out early tomorrow."

"Oh." I looked awkwardly around me. "Right. I'll get right on that. Pardon for my hesitation—it's been so long since I've taken my sleep on the muddy ground."

"Just wrap up in your cloak." Ezio pulled out the dry blanket from his pack and chucked it over the fire at me. "You complain too much."

"Only because you give me so much to complain about," I muttered, laying out the blanket. I crawled onto it and found a comfortable spot, curling up in my cloak to ward off the cold air. I wasn't used to roughing it out on the road. There was an odd bump jabbing me in the back, making it difficult to get comfortable. Somehow, though, I did end up falling asleep to the rustle of trees and the crackle of the fire.

* * *

Ezio stayed true to his word. He shook me awake at predawn, muttering that it was time to go. We struggled a bit as I swung my hands at him to try and get him to leave me alone, but it was all a complete failure. He literally picked me up and perched me upon my horse, not willing to put up with my crap. Before I knew it, we were on the road, the sun barely peeking over the mountains, nearly blinding me.

We kept a rather fast pace the entire morning, Ezio keeping his mouth shut and his eyes on the road. I suspected that bandits were a rather popular event on the treacherous road. The road had dried nicely by the time the sun rose high into the sky, giving us an easy path to travel on. Just when I thought my legs were going to be rubbed off, Ezio slowed his horse and declared that we would stop for a bit. There was a small stream that ran nearby our small resting spot, and as I shook out my lets, Ezio took the horses over to the stream and watered them. As the horses drank, Ezio knelt to the side of the stream, tugging down his hood, and cupped a handful of water to his face, splashing it onto his skin as he rubbed his face. I couldn't help but stare at him, watching the water droplets stream down his face in glowing lines against his dark skin. I adverted my gaze.

"I have to pee," I muttered to Ezio. Not seeing if he heard, I turned and walked into the forest, finding a nice secluded spot to relieve myself.

So there I was, pants pulled down around my ankles, squatting down, when there was a rustle in the bushes. Freezing, my eyes shot around the area, trying to find any movement within the trees. Then all hell broke loose.

About a dozen men dressed in dark robes and masks were suddenly dropped from the trees, running at me with blades. It was those men chasing me! Screaming, I managed to claw up my pants before they seized me, pushing me against the tree as they tied my hands behind my back. I struggled hard, trying to ignore the fact that the pants were threatening to drop down my legs without being tied. I tried to scream again, to alert Ezio, but they were shoving a wad of cloth into my mouth, tying another around so I couldn't make a sound. I tried kicking at them, but they had me pinned against the tree.

"Narina!" I glanced up, seeing Ezio rushing into the area, many of the men waiting for him. The assassin pulled out his sword and stared at his enemies, his eagle eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. "Let her go."

They didn't comply. Surprise, surprise. Instead, one of them pulled me from the tree and threw me over their shoulder. I wormed about, trying to wiggle myself free. Ezio began to fight the other men, trying to cut through them while the one carrying me began to run through the trees.

Terror had never struck me so hard when I realized that Ezio wasn't going to be able to save me. I tried screaming, the only sound coming out was muffled against the rag in my mouth. I began kicking my legs, trying to hit the man carrying me. I had to get away. I had to! But nothing was working. All I was doing was jerking around and making my pants nearly fall down more—he was still able to carry me away. Tears started to stream down my face from all of the fear, the movement, the helplessness.

Suddenly, the man under me jerked forward, like he had tripped, and I went flying off of him, rolling on the ground. A few sticks had jabbed me, but I was alright. Glancing up, I saw that my kidnapper didn't have such a lucky fate. There was a throwing knife lodged in the back of his skull, his face buried in the earth below him. Breathing hard, I tried to sit up, but had little luck. I was shaking too much, my head spinning. Why did they want me so badly?

A moment later, Ezio ran up to me, sitting me up, his hood lowered as he worriedly looked over me. He had blood splattered all over his face, his breaths ragged. "Narina, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He used a small knife from his belt to cut the rope around my wrists, then he swiftly untied the cloth from around my face.

As soon as he pulled out the wad from my mouth, I gasped for air and said, "I can't believe they attacked me while I was peeing!"

Ezio stared down at me like a lost boy for a long moment. Then he laughed—a short, breathy, not-so-humorous laugh. Then his hands were around my face, pulling me to him as he nearly kissed the soul out of me. We sat there for a long moment, his hands cradling my head so gently as he pressed kiss after kiss into my lips, his scar pressing so pleasantly into my mouth. I felt so confused, not understanding Ezio's intentions at all. As much as I wanted to wrap my arms around him and melt into his warmth, I kept my hands in my lap, but I couldn't help but respond to his kiss, pressing back into him.

Finally, he leaned away, his eyes closed as he began to breath normally. He sat there for a minute, hands still around my face. He looked at me, his golden eyes warm. "Are you okay?"

I slowly nodded. "Yes. Just a little roughed up, that's all."

"We should get moving," he suggested, standing up and taking my hands to pull me up with him. "There may be more of them following after us."

He squeezed my hands before he let go of them, reaching up to pull on his hood before he turned on his heel, making our way back through the forest. As I followed him, tying up my pants so they weren't so loose, I stared up at the back of his white hood, more confused than ever about everything.

* * *

The seriousness of the situation must not have hit Ezio until we got back to our horses. Once we were back on the road, he went through extreme measures to make sure that we wouldn't be followed, such as going off road and creating paths that went in circles. He became distant again—even more so than he had been before, if that was even possible. He wouldn't even say anything to me. If he did speak, it was more like he was talking to his horse. And forget about actually looking at me. His hood had been pulled so far forward, his eyes couldn't even be seen. What was his deal?

We wasted so much time creating fake trails that we were still high in the mountains by the time the sun and crept down below the horizon again. In a silence, we put up camp and ate, the flames absorbing all of our attention.

Finally, after the stars and moon came out, I laid out the blanket and sprawled out on it, staring up at the dark sky. I took a deep breath. "Why are you in such a bad mood lately?" I asked.

"What?" He seemed confused that I was talking to him.

"You. You're being an asshole," I looked over at him, and of course he wasn't looking at me.

"I'm just trying to keep up alive," he explained exasperatedly. "Pardon me if I'm being a little rude."

"Not just a little. A lot." I pouted. "You won't even look at me when you talk."

He rolled his eyes as he sighed, actually looking away before he looked down at me, pulling off his hood. He didn't say anything. He just stared at me, studying me studying him. "I have a lot on my mind," he finally whispered, looking back to the fire.

"Like what?"

"Lots of things," he generalized again.

"Enough with the vague, mysterious comments," I demanded, sitting up. "I'm your friend, Ezio. Tell me what the hell is going on with you."

"There's nothing wrong," he growled, obviously annoyed.

"Well, that's a lie." I smiled at him, even if he wasn't looking. "Loosen up a bit. Have some fun. You're acting like a bitter old man."

"Despite how much fun that we've had," Ezio replied in a snark tone, "there is actually little to enjoy on this trip."

My lips pursed. "Still, you're being awfully rude."

"Then I'm sorry." He diverted his attention to the blade he had pulled out of its sheath, staring at the metal as if he were planning on carving some intricate design into the metal.

"No you're not," I snapped, folding my arms. "Say it like you mean it."

"Narina," Ezio said, rolling his eyes as he looked up at me. "Look, I'm going to go to bed. I suggest you do the same." He put the sword away and laid down on his side, turning his back to the fire and me.

"Don't tell me what to do," I argued, standing up.

"I'm not. It was a suggestion," he answered back. "Goodnight."

I puffed up, feeling like throwing a temper tantrum. "I'm going for a walk!"

"Don't get yourself killed," he calmly said, not even caring that I had nearly died the last time I wandered around. Sick and tired of him and his poor attitude, I turned on my heel and stalked off into the dark forest, wanting to go find a rock and drop it on his stupid face.

What I found, however, was much better than a rock. Probably more safe as well.

Not too far from the camp was a small, narrow river that ran down the side of the mountain. The banks of the river were thick and gooey with mud, and I smiled wickedly as an idea formed in my mind. Bending over, I scooped up a handful of mud and walked back to the fire. Ezio hadn't moved, still curled up on his side, hood resting against his shoulders. I stood over him, staring at him. He must have known that I was there—he couldn't have fallen asleep that fast, but he didn't budge, obviously thinking that I wanted him to look. I judged the location and held my hands full of mud over him. Then dropped it. With a splatter, it smacked right into his face.

He roared, up on his feet in one split second, wiping at his face. Despite the bestial reaction, I was all giggles, standing across the fire as I watched him furiously wipe the mud from his eyes.

His eyes flashed to me once he had thrown the mud aside, the gold nearly burning me. "Narina!" He shouted. "What the hell is your problem!?"

I didn't reply. I gathered up the mud sticking to my hands into another small blob before I chucked it at him. It had been a long time since I had seen him so worked up over something. He dodged the mud and came flying over the fire at me, the intent to kick my ass clear on his face. Squealing, I barely missed his attack and quickly took off into the forest, having fun, but feeling a little fear too. How far would Ezio go?

Finding myself back at the stream, I was so into the rush that I splashed right into the river, wading into it so it was about to my knees. The water was freezing, but I didn't care. Ezio was finally playing a stupid little game with me. He broke through the trees, huffing loudly. "What are you doing, you stupid girl?" He asked, shaking his head. "You're going to get sick! Get out of there!"

"Make me," I calmly replied, kicking up water that splattered on the shore.

Much to my dismay, he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, a method of calming himself that I had seen him do before. "Narina, this is silly. I'm not going to drag you back. Just come to bed."

When he turned to leave, I bent over and dug my hands into the muddy river bed, scooping up a handfuls of the mud, and I chucked them as hard as I could at the back of his head. One of them missed, but the other smacked right against the back of his skull. That was all it took. He spun around, eyes flashing in the darkness. I innocently smiled at him. "Make me," I whispered.

Before I knew it, he had scooped up his own handfuls of mud and was coming straight for me, his boots splashing in the water. Screaming playfully, I waded deep into the river, hitting my hand against the water so that water splashed towards him. He chucked one of his mud clods, hitting me square in the back. It actually hurt a little, but I didn't complain. I reached back for the mud still clinging to my vest as I threw it back over my shoulder at him. The water was to my waist by then, the current of the river nearly pulling me over. He dodged the flying mud, and reached for me, managing to grip onto my wrist. He tugged me towards him, making me cry out and struggle against him. With the other handful of mud, he smeared the cold ooze all over my head, pressing it into my hair. Screaming out again, I struggled harder, laughing under my breaths as I shoved at him.

I cupped my hands full of water and threw it up into his face, making him let go of me. I scrambled for the shore to get more mud, but once I tried to climb up the muddy, slippery incline, I fell and splashed down into the shallow end of the river. I vaguely heard Ezio's laughter as I sat up, ineffectively rubbing the muddy water out of my eyes.

"Shut your mouth!" I laughed, wrapping my fingers around the gooey mud under me and throwing it at him. Pushing myself up, I shook out my hair, the strands clumping together in a gross, dirty tangle. I was freezing, but I didn't care. The splashes of water told me that Ezio was approaching me, so I quickly slapped the water again, splashing him as he walked up. The attack must have caught him off guard, for he slipped on the same slope that I had and went crashing into the water. Laughter burst from my chest, but only for a second, because as he fell, his hand reached out and caught onto my tunic, which dragged me down with him. Even if I nearly drowned as my head went under, I still came up laughing, sputtering out the water.

For a long moment, both of us just sat there in the water laughing. Our clothes were soaked, our hair tangled with mud and water, slicked down against us. And he was smiling—no, not just a smile, but a grin. A genuine, having-fun grin.

Our laughter died out, and reality crept up on us. It was the middle of the night, freezing cold with the moon's light barely peeping through the trees. The rush of the stream finally cut through my senses, and my teeth started to clatter.

Ezio took that as a cue to get out of the cold water. He offered me his hand and pulled me up out of muddy river. Our boots were still caked in a layer of ooze as we made our way back to the camp, picking up twigs and leaves on our feet.

At the fire, Ezio pulled out the extra blankets and bade me take my clothes off. Although I was appalled at first, I realized that he meant to have me wrap up in a blanket for the night so that my clothes could dry for the next day. I took to the trees to undress, peeling the wet material off of me before wrapping the dry, warm blanket around me. Once I was safely naked in a warm, blanket cocoon, I dragged a nearby rock over to the fire so that I could lay my clothes out on it. Ezio followed in suite, hanging his robes over a low tree branch before laying out his slacks and shirt against the rock as well. I sat on my little makeshift bed, staring up at Ezio who had lazily draped his blanket around his waist, holding it up with one hand. The firelight did very unfair things to his body, making it glow gold, enunciated every crevice of his chiseled body. It suddenly dawned on me that we were both naked, alone, out in the middle of nowhere, and my heart started pounding at the panic that thought brought. He threw a few more pieces of wood onto the fire to keep the flame bright as we slept, the sparks flying into the air.

As he put our boots next to the flame, I laid down on my side and watched him quietly. When he knelt to the ground, I closed my eyes and whispered, "Thank you."

He didn't reply. I heard him shifting around on the ground with his blanket, and when I dared to peek again, he was completely covered, laying down across the fire.

Taking a deep breath, I settled more into my position, snuggling into my blanket that smelled like the leather packs. "I think I have mud in my ears," I said with a smile.

After a moment, Ezio chuckled. "I blame Pifo."

I shook my head, laughing. "You are such an asshole!" His laughter rang out, and I decided that even the simplest things could turn out to be some pleasant surprises.

* * *

The sun woke me up in the morning, nearly blinding me. I looked across the pile of coals at Ezio, who was still sleeping, his blanket thrown over his head. Remembering about the night before and how our clothes had to dry, I climbed out of my cocoon of warmth and went to the rock, pleased to find that the clothes had dried out. I pulled on my slacks, tied them up, and threw on the shirt, pulling the vest on after it. My hair was a giant mess, clumped in some spots and completely out of control in other areas—it was like I had wrestled with a bear during the night. I tried raking my fingers through the strands before I decided I would just pull it back. When I went to go for my pack, however, my eyes locked onto two golden pools, a lazy, scarred, smile to go with it.

I stiffened. "How long have you been watching me?"

The smile turned into a smirk. "Long enough." His voice was rough from sleep.

Blushing, I turned away from him, back to my bag. "You're disgusting," I muttered, digging through the pack to find something that could work for a hair tie.

"Good morning to you too," he muttered, sitting up so the blanket fell to his waist. "Are the clothes dry?"

"Yes." I found a leather strip in the bag and pulled back my hair, tying the leather around it. Deciding that I wasn't going to participate in Ezio's game of peeping tom, I decided to go tend to myself while he got dressed, and I stepped into the woods for a quick moment.

When I went back, he was tightening his belts on his robes, clasping on his weapons to his waist. "Are we getting to Floris or something like that today?" I asked, clasping up my pack again.

"We should reach _Forli_," he corrected with a smile, "today, yes. Hopefully, there will be a boat there waiting for us or we may have to wait a few days in the city to wait for one."

"Do you suppose Leonardo will be there?"

"There's only one way to find out."

We packed up and hit the road, trotting down the path. Conversation was, once again, limited, but it wasn't like it had been before. Instead of feeling like Ezio was avoiding it, it was just a pleasant silence, the sound of the horse hooves digging into the fresh dirt. It was a pleasant enough ride, the sun rising higher into the sky to peep through the trees above.

* * *

Around midday, Ezio held up his hand to me. "Wait," he breathed, pulling his horse to a stop.

I focused on the road, tearing my eyes from a small squirrel at the side of the road. "What is it?"

"There's a cart stopped up ahead," Ezio told me. "Be cautious. It could be our enemy." With our horses moving slowly, steps deadly quiet, we inched closer and closer to the cart, our eyes pinned upon it. It looked to be broken down, tilted at a rather odd angle. There were no horses at the front of it, and I wondered if perhaps it had been abandoned by travelers.. I stiffled a gasp when a figure walked from behind the cart, a man rubbing at his face as he studied the wagon.

I almost fell off of my horse. "Leonardo!"

The man looked over at us, surprise lighting his face. "Ezio! Narina! What a pleasant surprise!" I ditched the horse as I jumped down to give the artist a big hug, glad to see a familiar face for once.

"What are you doing here?" Ezio asked after Leonardo threw a hug on the assassin.

"My cart hit a rather nasty rut," Leonardo explained, "and it knocked the wheels right off of the axle. The horses were so spooked that they broke from the cart and ran off. I've been sitting here for hours trying to figure out what to do."

"You travel alone?" It didn't seem like a very smart idea, especially for Leonardo.

"_Si_," he answered sheepishly, smiling. "I was so eager to be off that I determined that I would travel by myself. All has been well, aside from this mess."

"Do you need some help?" Ezio was looking at the cart, gazing under it as if to find the problem.

"If you would be so kind!" Leonardo took a step to the cart, patting the wood. "If you could lift this up for me, I could fix the wheel, and we could use your horses to hitch up to the front! Then we can all travel together, yes?"

"Sounds like a great idea." Ezio popped his knuckles before he rolled his neck, a grin on his face. With little effort on his part, he lifted the side of the cart while Leonardo ducked down underneath it to fix the wheel. In amazing time, everything was fixed at the cart was back to normal.

"Many thanks, my friend," Leonardo offered with a grin, reaching out to touch Ezio's arm. "I forgot to ask—what is it that you two are doing out here in the mountains? Are you going to Venice as well?"

"We were actually hoping to catch you," I put in, leading the horses over to the cart to be hitched up.

"Oh?"

"Yes, we have more codex pages," Ezio explained, reaching out and helping me hitch up the horses.

"Excellent!" Leonardo clapped his hands together. "This is very exciting! However, I"m afraid that I'm useless to you until I get to _Venezia_. All my books and supplies are packed up in the cart. Of which you are certainly welcome to put your stuff in as well!"

Right on cue, Ezio handed me our bags, and I hauled them to the back of the cart, throwing them over the edge. I peeked in to make sure I wasn't crushing anything of Leonardo's, and was faced with a rather peculiar sight. "Leonardo?" I asked.

"Yes? What is it, Narina?"

"What is _this?_"

He appeared next to me, peeping his head in for a look of what I was talking about. "Oh." He suddenly seemed bashful. "That. It's just an unfinished project. I...couldn't bring myself to leave it behind." It was a rather large contraption, though bundled up so that it would fit in the cart. Ezio came and peeked as well, lifting one heavy brow.

"What is it, exactly?"

"Well." Leonardo cleared his throat. "You see, I've been studying a lot about birds and humans lately. I've put together ways that the birds are able to soar through the sky. And I built this in response to those findings. You see...I think I may have found a way for man to fly!"

"Really?" I grinned. "That's amazing! Can you imagine what it would be like?"

Leonardo sighed, backing away from the cart. "It's still just a prototype, however, and it is much to risky to even test. But still, it has proved quite the project."

"Indeed!" I pouted up at Ezio when I saw that he wasn't nearly as excited about the contraption as I was. As a matter of fact, he looked downright bored. He passed by us and climbed up onto the driver seat of the carriage.

"Shall we be off?" he asked, looking back down at us.

"Of course!" Leonardo climbed up and I followed, sitting next to Leonardo who took a hold of the reigns. "Next stop," Leonardo announced, grinning, "is Forli."

* * *

The roads were bad from the rainstorm before—we almost broke the wheel again, but Leonardo kept it steady. It pleased me to realize that we were traveling downhill, surly near the bottom of the mountains. While we were riding along, Ezio suddenly jumped off of the cart and dove into the trees, causing Leonardo to pull the horses to a stop as we called out to the assassin. He came back a little later, blood splattered all over his sleeve. He explained that he had noticed we were being followed by a few shady men from the trees, and he took action.

Grateful that no trouble had occurred, Leonardo continued down the path, winding through the tall trees and jagged mountain side. Soon, after hours of bouncing along, talking about what had happened since the last time we had all gotten together, the trail dipped down at an alarming rate, and through the tips of the trees, I saw the small port city, glistening by the Adriatic Sea. I sat there, dazzled by the water, enthralled by how beautifully the waves shined in the sunlight.

We broke from the mountains, riding down into the small area that was mostly marsh lands and bushes. The city was encased in a stone wall, bridges leading in and out of the gates. A few people were wandering about on the road, giving us weary eyes as we sauntered by. It was a new place, and I couldn't get enough of it. Although, it was a rather ugly place—everything seemed gray and uninviting. Still, new places held new opportunities. Leonardo skipped the entrance to the city and went around the giant, gray walls, heading towards the docks at the port. I deflated when I saw that there was no boat there.

Once at the docks, the man there told us that the boat was to arrive that evening. Leonardo was delighted with the news and turned excitedly towards Ezio and I. "Only a few more hours, my friends, then we are off to the floating city!"

I had read and heard of Venice. It was supposedly beautiful, the epitome of the grand pride of Italy, aside from Rome, of course. It's streets were actually canals, and many people traveled by boats. It was a strange concept, and I wanted to see it for myself. We took the time to unload all of our supplies from the back of the cart, setting them down on the dock. Once everything was out, I sat down on one of Leonardo's crates to catch my breath.

"How long does the boat ride take to Venice?" I asked, looking up at the artist.

When he shrugged, the port master stepped in. "It takes about four to five days to get to _Venezia_, depending on how the weather treats us."

"Nearly a week?" It seemed a little long. Not to mention, I was wearing stinky, dirty clothes and I had no other to wear. I thought for a moment. "How much longer until the boat arrives?"

"Once the sun sets, I'm sure it'll be docking."

I turned to Ezio, who was staring out over the sea. "Can I go shopping for clothes?"

He looked over his shoulder at me, raising a brow. "What's wrong with what you're wearing?"

Pouting, I folded my arms. "I smell bad! Not to mention I have mud stains all over!"

"You have no one to blame but yourself for that," he pointed out, smiling softly.

"I could blame Pifo."

Chuckling, Ezio handed over his purse, letting the heavy weight drop into my palm. "Just don't spend all of it, eh?"

Tilting my head, I stared up at him. "Are you not coming with?"

When he shook his head, Leonardo raising an inquiring finger. "Ah, if I may, Narina, I'll gladly go with you. I need a few supplies myself."

Smiling, I nodded, grateful for Leonardo's offer. "Alright." I turned and shook the purse at Ezio. "We'll be back—watch over the supplies."

Leonardo and I unhooked the horses from the cart and rode them over to the gates of the city, sauntering our way through the crowds until we found a fabricator for him to stop by, gathering materials and metals for a project of his. After that, we went to the tailor shop. I picked up a few more shirts there, a pair of slacks and opted to get a dress for the chance that I may have to blend in a crowd for a mission.

With the clothes all bundled up, Leonardo and I rode back to the docks, happy as can be. He was sure a chatty person, talking my ear off, but I didn't mind. He was such a funny man. When we got to the docks, however, we saw that Ezio was no longer standing with our supplies. Leonardo seemed distraught, putting his bought supplies in one of the boxes before he turned to me. "Do you think he is okay?"

I nodded, not very concerned. "Ezio can take care of himself. I'm sure he's fine."

The artist wasn't convinced, wringing his hands together as he began to pace. "Where could he have gone."

I imagined a woman walking by the docks and Ezio immediately following like a lost puppy. Seemed most probable, although he might have gotten in trouble with the guards somehow...the sure thing was that Ezio was just being himself and was up to no good.

* * *

About an hour passed before he walked back onto the docks, hood lowered and picking at his teeth.

"Oh, there you are!" Leonardo stood from his crate and smiled widely. "We were worried! Where did you go off to?"

"For a ride," he answered, taking a seat on one of the boxes.

My brows knitted together. "But we took the horses." I handed him back his money pouch, the coins ringing melodically.

Ezio grinned down at me. "I know."

It hit me then, and I rolled my eyes. "Disgusting."

Before anyone could say anything, the port master called out that the boat was near the docks, and, sure enough, when I looked out into the great sea, the figure of a ship could be seen drifting towards us. The man guessed it would take a few more hours for the boat arrive, so we checked all of the boxes to make sure that they were secure. Many more people began to gather on the docks, wishing to go to Venice as well.

"Alright then, let's start seeing passes here," the port master called out.

Ezio and I looked at each other. "Passes?"

Leonardo, who had a thin slip of paper in his hold, turned to us. "You two don't have passes?"

Suddenly, the port master grew defensive, standing broad and tall, although he was no where near Ezio's height. "Passes or you're not going!"

Exasperated, I looked at Ezio. "What do we do?"

He reached up and scratched his chin. "We'll think of something."

We didn't think of something. Even as the boat docked and people started loading on, Ezio and I were shit out of luck. We couldn't simply _buy_ passes—apparently, you had to be specially invited to the city, or go to some other port and make your way from there. Leonardo had waited until the last of the people were getting on before he started to load up slowly, giving us the best possible chance of catching the boat. The port master had his eye on us, so we couldn't sneak on.

For the good hour it took for people to load up on the boat, Ezio and I sat at the edge of the dock, brainstorming, but coming up with nothing. I rubbed my forehead, trying to come up with some loophole in the system—there _had_ to be a way to get on that boat.

Suddenly, there was screaming, causing Ezio and I to glance up. Far in the water, were a giant rock stuck out of the water, a woman in a plum colored dress stood there, screaming out loudly, her red hair glinting in the dying light of the sun. A man was in a boat, rowing away from the island, his fist in the air, shaking at the woman as he yelled obscene words at her. I didn't even need to say anything—the woman obviously couldn't swim—Ezio jumped into action, jumping up and running down the dock to jump into his own boat, where he paddled his way out to the island where the woman was. From my point at the dock, I saw the grateful smile she gave him, and he helped her down into the boat. Slowly, he rowed her back to shore, talking to her with that charming smile of his. My gut twisted at the sight, and I turned away, trying to make my thoughts go back to figuring out how we were going to get on the boat.

Soon, Ezio was walking up the dock with the woman at his side. She was extremely beautiful, a small, dark mole much like my own sitting just above the right side of her lip. I stood from the dock when they approached me, both their eyes trained on me. "I hear you two need to get on the boat," she said, her voice rather nice despite how angry she had been when she was yelling. "I can help you with that."

Breathing out in relief, I followed them to the port master where the woman demanded that we have access on the boat. Surprisingly, the tough port master agreed and we climbed up on deck. We were the last passengers on, and the man called for the departure of the boat. On deck, Ezio, Leonardo and I stood at the railing and waved to the woman on the deck, thanking her. As the boat lurched away, drifting farther and farther from the dock, a man approached her and started to argue with her—the same man that had been in the boat.

"Ezio, do you know who that is?" Leonardo muttered as we all turned away.

Chuckling, Ezio leaned back against the railing. "My next conquest, perhaps?"

I shot him a glare. "That's all you ever think about, isn't it?"

"When I'm not arguing with you, yes."

For some reason, that hurt me, and I turned away, folding my arms.

"Well, that might not be such a good idea, my friend," Leonardo pointed out, stepping away and beckoning for us to follow. "That is Caterina Sforza. She is the Countess of Forli, and help her husband rule the city."

"Husband." I shot a glance at Ezio. "That means you can't, as you so crudely put it, 'conquer' her."

"Sure I can," Ezio argued with a sly grin.

Seeing the impending storm, Leonardo patted Ezio's shoulder and pulled him away from my death glare. "Whatever you say, my friend, but now you and Narina must help me with my things."

After Leonardo's belonging were placed in his cabin, Ezio and I went to our room (which we did have to share—it was the only way we were able to fit on board). Although Ezio dropped of his pack and left, his face set straight, I stayed and crawled into the cot. The day had been so long, and not even the rock or the creaks of the boat were enough to keep me awake.

* * *

It rained the next day, so none of the passengers were allowed up on deck so that the crew could work the masts in peace. It wasn't anything major, but it was just a precaution for all of us to be locked below. Ezio hadn't been there when I had awoke, so I went to Leonardo's cabin and visited with him, watching him make little sketches and observations in his little book. It was entertaining, and he told me many stories of his when he was a young boy, how he had always been so curious. The day passed by quickly, and I wasn't sure what Ezio had been up to, for he was still not in the cabin when I went back to bed. I may have forgave him a little for being a whore—it was something that had always been there and something that I had dealt with constantly. So I didn't know why it was different for this situation.

The second day was better—the rain had stopped and the water was nice and calm. The passeners were once again allowed up on deck, and the sun shone brightly off of the water. I woke up alone again, and I was actually saddened enough to get out of bed and search out for my assassin. We had to discuss our plan, although I knew that it could have changed very little.

Up on deck, the sea breeze brushed up on the wood and pushed against my face. I inhaled the smell, enjoying the freshness and the wide open spaces. But being on the water made things...well, difficult. I couldn't walk all that straight when I crossed the deck, looking for the familiar white hood. I finally found it when I walked up to the front of the boat, Ezio standing at the railing as he gazed over the sea.

I walked up next to him, leaning on the railing just as he was. "Hey there."

He kept his eyes to the sea. "_Salute_, Narina." The greeting seemed forced, and I was a little shocked at that.

"I didn't see you yesterday," I pointed out. "What were you up to."

"Nothing really," he muttered. "I actually slept a lot yesterday when you weren't in the room. Being on a boat makes me ill."

"Really?"

As if to prove his point, he leaned over the railing and hurled. I leaned away from him, trying not to be rude, but my face scrunched up in disgust. He wiped at his mouth. "Really," he answered. "I've always gotten sea sick whenever I ride a boat. Ever since I was a kid."

I thought about it, a small, young Ezio helplessly heaving up over the edge of the boat, Maria comforting him while Giovanni would whisper promises of land in his son's ear. I sighed, reaching out and taking a hold of Ezio's arm. "Well, do you need to go back to the cabin?"

"I'm fine," he insisted, but ending up letting me lead him down below deck again. I sat him down on his cot and ran to fetch him some water and a small bucket of some sort. As I handed him the mug, he sipped at the liquid, flinched away, and handed it back to me. He was shaking his head "no", so I took it away and set it aside.

"Is that all you've been doing on this trip?" I asked, sitting at the bed's edge. "Puking everywhere?"

"Basically." He settled back on the pillows, letting his eyes close. "I hate boats."

Laughing, I stood from the bed and helped take off his boots so he could get comfortable. "So, charming the countess of Forli wasn't even worth it?"

"No," he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. That pleased me, and I put his boots on the ground, secretly smiling to myself. Ezio was suddenly sitting up, leaning over the edge of the bed, reaching for the bucket and groaning out. I sat down and began to rub his back, trying to comfort him in a small way, knowing how terrible it was to get sick. He didn't throw up, but he stayed hunched over the bucket, his eyes clamped shut. I continued to rub soothing circles, watching how his face eventually eased.

"Ezio?"

"Hm?"

"Would you have really slept with Caterina?"

His face scrunched again as if the topic pained him. "And why not?"

"Well, she's married, for starters," I grumbled, feeling my mouth want to twist into the familiar pout.

"Remember that man who had left her out on the rock?" He opened his eyes and gazed up at me. "That was her husband. You can clearly see that she's not happy in her marriage."

Suddenly, I felt so desperate, my hand transitioning into slower circles. "But when you care about somebody, you shouldn't do such things as sleeping around."

Ezio snorted, smiling crookedly and closing his eyes again. "She cares naught for her husband. And I'm just me. So there's nothing wrong with with bedding her."

My rubbing hand slowed, then stopped altogether, dropping from Ezio's back as my eyes locked on the small knot in the wood of the floor. I felt lost and confused again, and I slowly stood from the bed. "I...I'm going to go ask Leonardo if he has any idea how to make you feel better." I took a step away, keeping my eyes from Ezio. "You...should get some rest. I'll be back later." I closed the door gently behind me, still staring at nothing. Deciding I didn't want to deal with Leonardo's chatter, I instead climbed up on deck and spent the day sitting on a barrel and watching the waves crash against the boat.

* * *

The next two days flew by in a blur, varying very little. I was either with Leonardo or up on the deck with the nice breeze. I decided to avoid Ezio altogether, finding myself growing some sort of strange and frightening emotion when I was around him; I knew that if I strayed to close to whatever it was, I would end up hurt. Leonardo had gotten word of Ezio's sickness and opted to go back to his studies of herbs from when he was younger, trying to think of anything that could quell the sickness of the sea.

By the night of the fourth day, the captain of the boat announced that Venice would be reached by the noon of the next day, and it was very clear that all the passengers were very grateful for that. I walked down into he cabins after dinner, bringing a little food for Ezio as I had every night. I quietly peeked into the room, wondering and hoping that he was asleep. Which he wasn't. He was seeming to get a better hold of his stomach after a few days, and he was actually sitting up in bed, cleaning one of his blades when I stepped in.

The captivating gaze locked onto me. "Ah, Narina. I haven't seen you all day."

"It feels nice up on deck," I answered almost automatically.

"I hear we're off this God-forsaken boat tomorrow noon."

"_Si_." I handed him the bread I had taken and a little bit of ham to go with it.

"Good. The sooner I'm in Venice, the better." He bit a mouthful out of the bread, shoving the ham into his mouth after it. It was good to see that his appetite had come back. I smiled at him, looking down at the blade that he had sat down. I reached for it, holding the knife up, looking at the way it glinted in the candlelight.

"Why do you clean these?" I asked. "They just get bloody again anyway.

"Because they look nice when they're all shiny. Can't go around killing Templars with rusty, dirty knives, now can we?"

Laughing, I rolled my eyes and handed him back the knife. "Really funny, Ezio. You're sure acting like yourself."

"I feel a lot better," he admitted, smirking as he held the knife in one hand. He quickly finished his food and stood from the bed, walking over to his pack where he tucked the knife away. "Of course, leave it to my luck that I get used to riding on a boat right when we're to our destination." I watched him as he stood straight, scratching at his chin that was now covered in stubble that was too long to actually be called stubble. I would have to get him to shave once we were settled down in Venice. "Want to go for a walk?" He suddenly offered. "I haven't been out of this room for days."

"Sure, though it's dark out now."

He reached up and perched his hood over his face. "That's fine. Let's go." I followed him out of the room and weaved through the lower makings of the boat, climbing up onto the deck. Several of the sailors had already gone to bed, a select few still out to see to the ship. Ezio and I went towards the front of the boat, leaning against the railing as the cold night air rushed past us. The moon was bright enough to light up the dark deck, and the water glimmered in response. The sails flapped in the wind as the boat was pushed along the water. In the far distance, I could see the bright light coming from Venice, and I felt myself giddy with excitement.

"Just think," I murmured, leaning over the railings as if to get a closer look at the warm glow, "we're going to be walking on a floating city in less than a day."

"A strange idea indeed."

"If you've only been to Venice once in your life," I began asking, "where else have you ridden a boat?"

"My mother's brother lives down in _Napoli_," he explained, closing his eyes against the breeze. "We would visit him a lot when we were all kids. I always hated it because whenever we would visit, he would insist that we take a ride on his boat."

I laughed despite his sour tone and stood straight, looking up at Ezio. "So, even after you spent all that time puking on his boat, he insisted that you ride anyway? What a caring uncle!"

Ezio scoffed under his breath, shaking his head. "Once I was twelve, we stopped going to visit once my uncle remarried and started having kids of his own."

I tilted my head. "You haven't seen him since?"

"Nope." Ezio was gazing out over the water again, lost far off in his mind.

"Perhaps we could visit someday," I suggested.

"Last I heard," Ezio continued, "he was sick. That was four years ago, when this whole thing started. He might not even be alive anymore."

Feeling somewhat bad for him, I reached out and touched his shoulder comfortingly. "We could always go see for ourselves. When we have the time, of course."

"_If_ we ever have the time," Ezio corrected, gazing down at me. "I have this feeling that things are going to get real exciting real soon."

"Good. I've been bored lately." I smiled widely, imagining what great wonders were waiting for me in the giant city. All the opportunities for adventure, the hidden secrets that no one could find before. I leaned forward again, letting my hands brace against the railing.

"The moon's really bright tonight," Ezio commented, his chin tilted upward as he stared at the night sky. "It's blotting out the stars."

I looked up too, seeing that he was right. It was nearly a full moon, so it made sense. "You can't have two good things at once," I told him.

A smile appeared, his scar lighting up in the dim light. "That's not true," he mumbled, "you just have to work hard for it."

I watched him as he inhaled a deep breath, his golden eyes closing. It was so strange to think how a man so perfect could be so...imperfect. He had the look of an angle, perhaps even a God, but his mind was that of a sly fox, a nimble thinker. The mind of a man. But that was okay, and what justified that it was okay was the fact that Ezio was just being Ezio. At one moment, he could be a lecher, twisted and crude, and in a quick snap, he'd be caring an understanding, thoughtful and insightful.

He looked down at me, his mouth quirking into a small smile. "What?"

I shook my head. "I'm just trying to figure you out," I admitted. "I always think I know exactly just what you're about, but then you have to go and surprise me again and again." I scoffed, looking out over the water. "It's been four years and I still don't know what to make of you, best friend or no."

A laugh hummed through him as he stretched his arms over his head. "I can't figure you out, either, miss mysterious woman. So we're in the same boat."

"Huh." I smirked. "Well, since you'll just get sea sick, I suppose I'll come out on top then."

His brows furrowed as a silly grin tweaked his lips upwards as he looked over at me. I gave him an innocent shrug and a smile. Then we started laughing, the noise echoing around the open deck, making some of the sailors look over at us. Finally, the laughter died, and I ran my hand through my hair. "Ah, shit," I murmured, grinning like a fool.

"You're an ass," he commented, leaning forward so that his elbows were resting on the railing.

"Learned from the best." I playfully nudged him in the ribs with my elbow, and he snorted in response, shaking his head.

"I'm not exactly the best teacher, then," he muttered, looking over at me.

I shrugged. "I thought you did okay." Then I stared at him, into his golden gaze, losing myself within moments. I stepped forward, tilting my chin up, and he met me halfway, his mouth melding to mine. He shifted so that I was leaning against his chest, his arm snaking around my waist.

Within moments, his hot tongue was pressing against my lips, running along the seam, and I responded all too eagerly. The warm, musky taste of Ezio was the only thing I could focus clearly on, his hot breaths, his strong arms around me. He was suddenly engulfing my entire world, nearly suffocating me, but I accepted it, reaching up to cling for my very life. His hands lifted to my face, cupping my cheeks as he delved his fingers into my hair. When I allowed my own fingers to knot into his hair, anchoring myself to him, his hands dropped down to my neck, curving around them as his thumb brushed small circles there.

Then he was pushing my away. "Stop."

I was bewildered. _Ezio_ wanting to stop? It seemed absurd! I stared up at him, gazing into his eyes that had hardened, his face grim.

"Stop?" I shook my head.

"Narina, you can't do this."

"What?"

He let go of me, taking a few steps away as he shook his head. "This isn't how you should deal with this."

More confused than ever, I took a step after him. "What are you talking about?"

Ezio's face hardened, another step taken back. "This isn't how you should deal with Federico's death."

I froze for a moment, then felt taken aback, almost apalled. "He wasn't even on my mind until you just mentioned him! This has absolutely nothing to do with Federico!"

"Then why are you doing this?" He asked, his brow furrowing in frustration.

I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated and annoyed. "Why do I have to have a reason other than I just wanted to?"

"Because you're Federico's." Ezio swallowed. "You've always been his."

I suddenly felt like slapping him, my fists balling tightly. "That's the stupidest thing that's ever come out of your mouth! Do you even hear yourself?"

Ezio shook his head slowly. "It's the truth."

"Look, I understand that your brother and I were very close, Ezio, but he died four years ago!" When he didn't respond, I felt the fire rage higher. "And what about you?" I jabbed, gesturing an angry wave at him. "You sleep around with countless women, giving your body away as if it were a simple favor. But in reality, you're just using up all these women to fill in the hole if your life that used to be Cristina!"

His jaw clenched. "That's not true! It's different for me!"

"How the hell are you excluded? Why should you be? If anything, you're far worse off than I am!"

"It's different!"

"How?" I demanded, putting my fists firmly on my hips. "How, exactly?"

"Because you're a woman!" He finally shouted. "It's different for men!"

Finally, I couldn't take it. I swung my fist, nailing him square in the jaw. He stumbled back, touching at his face as he groaned, falling agianst the railing and steadying himself.

"You are unbelievable!" I snapped, then turned and stormed across the deck, making my way down into the cabins. I went to our shared room, slammed the door shut, and made sure the lock bar was in place before I went and fell into bed, too upset to fall asleep but too exhausted with the world to do anything else.

I'm not sure how long I was laying there for, but I was still awake when I heard the door being pushed, then stopped by the bar. Once. Twice. Three times. Then I heard Ezio's loud, angry sigh before his footsteps echoed down the hall, perhaps to Leonardo's cabin.

_Good riddance_, I thought to myself, burying my face in the pillow. I laid there for a long moment, brewing in my anger, but then I had to stop and ask myself just who I was mad at exactly. Ezio? Or myself? Annoyed, I slammed my fist into the mattress and muttered out a curse before I close my eyes and willed myself to sleep.

* * *

I woke up to shouting the next morning, and I flung out of bed, prepared for an emergency. But when I actually listened to the words, I could hear the crew up on board shouting, "Arriving in Venice!"

* * *

**DRAMA!**

**Drama drama drama.**

**Drama and I hate each other. Everyone knows that.**

**And here come the infamous days of me making all of you hate Ezio again. Ah, what wonderful times we all used to have! Brings a tear to the eye!**

**And...yes. This chapter was indeed quite long. Have a problem with it or if you like it better, let me know!**

**I've noticed something so very weird this past week. So this is the story that's having all the updates and new material and what not. So why is it that when I update this story, the older version suddenly gets a burst of views and reviews while this one is just like...dead? It makes no sense to me! :/**

**And people.  
****Please.  
****REVIEW.**

**Honestly, every time I get a review, I have to open up the next chapter and work on it because I feel like I'm depriving you all of the next chapter. Believe it or not, reviews are such big helpers of speeding the work along, especially for a rewrite! **

**And don't forget, I'm always open to suggestions as well! :3**

**ANYWAY.  
****That's enough of my rant.**

**Thanks and review! :D**


	16. Between the Lines

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* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Between the Lines**

* * *

The buildings were so tall. I stood there on the docks, staring up at all the unfamiliar buildings. It all had the Italian feel to it, but it was still so much more different, so strange. Strange, but extremely beautiful. The buildings were so enormous, so wonderfully constructed. The canals were full and glimmering in the sunlight, many gondoliers pushing their way through the water. It was definitely a breathtaking sight. But the smell was terrible, unbearable even. Leave it to irony to give such a beautiful city such a nasty scent.

"There!" Leonardo chirped behind me. "That's the last one!"

I looked over my shoulder to the artist and the assassin setting down one of Leonardo's boxes on the others sitting at the dock. They both looked up at me at the same time, and I could imagine that Ezio had complained to Leonardo all night long, making me look the one at fault. Ignoring them, I looked forward and leaned against a post on the dock. I wasn't going to let them get to me—I wasn't the one wrong in this argument, and I knew it.

A man brushed past me and introduced himself to Leonardo as the man who was to show him to his new shop. "Don't worry about your things," the overly-friendly man insisted. "I'll have them sent to the shop later! Come! Let's go take a small tour, eh?"

I had no other choice but to follow. I wasn't stupid enough to go wandering through a brand new city all by myself, especially one that was surrounded by water, a nice, constant reminder that I couldn't swim. I kept to the back of the group, not listening to the man excitedly talking about Venice and all of it's wonders. At one point, Leonardo reached back for my shoulder and pointing up to a huge building with such enthusiasm that I had to comply and enjoy the view with him.

We had traveled and winded through the many street, learning more and more about the city. At one point, we walked into a market that had many people bustling about, merchants crying out their deals for their goods. We took a step around the corner from the markets and I was suddenly shoved back, thrown to the ground. I landed with an earth-shattering thud, something heavy landing on top of me. The weight lifted quickly and was gone. As Leonardo helped me up, I glanced up and saw a man running through the crowd, a small cap on his head.

"Are you okay, Narina?" Leonardo asked, very concerned.

I stared after the man who was weaving through the crowds, my gut telling me that something was amiss. Suddenly, my hand went to my throat. "He stole my necklace!" I shouted. Without another word, I broke free from Leonardo's hold and bolted after the man, pushing myself through the crowds. The thief seemed shocked that I was chasing after him, and he began to shove through the people quicker. I heard Ezio calling after me to stop, but I wouldn't have any of it. The thief tried to throw me off by turning down many corners, but I stayed right on his heel, giving the chase everything that I could muster. Around a few minutes of running, the man ended up having his path blocked by a rather large group, which gave me enough time to tackle him.

The crowd gasped and scattered away from us as we rolled on the ground. Ending up on top, I grabbed the mans collar and shook him violently, letting all my irritation show. "Give me back my necklace!" I shouted.

"_Jesu_, woman!" The thief was a young man, perhaps my age or a little bit older. He had dark hair, curling around his cap, his eyes dark and wide in fear. "Calm down! Take your damn necklace!" He shoved his curled fist to my stomach, and I let one hand let go of him as I reached down and took a hold of the pendant.

With the necklace back, I crawled off the top of the thief and studied the precious amulet. The chain was broken from when he had yanked it from my neck, but it was otherwise undamaged. As I sat and stared at the metalwork, the thief stood and brushed himself off, staring down at me for a long moment. He was all but forgotten as I stood and shoved the necklace into my vest, tucking it safely inside. I then glanced up at him, wondering why he was just standing there.

His head tilted slightly at my gaze, but then he turned and ran down the street, disappearing around a corner. I stared at his vanishing point for a moment, standing up from the ground, before my shoulder was seized and I was turned. "There you are!" Ezio didn't seem very happy, his brow dented and his lips dipping down into a frown. "Are you stupid? That man could have killed you!"

Well, it was nice to know that he had so much faith in me. Rolling my eyes, I shrugged off of his hands and brushed by him. "I wasn't going to let him get away."

"Still, you shouldn't act so brash all the time."

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from lashing out at him. Instead, I let him take the lead and followed him back through the city. We met back up with Leonardo and the man giving the tour, and continued our way down the streets. Leonardo made sure that I was okay as we walked, fussing over me, but I brushed him off, telling him not to worry about it, that I was fine.

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the tour ended and the man had led us to Leonardo's new workshop. With a bow, he left and Leonardo had us take a quick look inside. After a quick look around the spacious shop, Ezio folded his arms and sighed. "So, can you take a quick look at those codex pages when you get the time?"

_"Si, si!_ As soon as I get moved in!"

"_Grazie_, my friend." Ezio then looked at me. "In the meantime, I know where we have to go."

Seeing that this was business, and not little squabble, I nodded. "What's the plan, then?"

"Our next man to take down Emilio Babario. From what I've seen of the city, I can almost taste the corruption that has come from his guiding hand. Not to mention, he's been harassing many of the merchants, and trying to force them under the same banner, controlling their sales. I have no doubt that he has some sort of ties with the Templars."

"But we don't know for sure," I pointed out, shaking my head. "We can't act on just feelings, Ezio—that'll land us in hot water."

"Killing anyone is going to land us in hot water," Ezio reminded me, inclining his chin. "We'll ask around a bit and try to dig up information of if he has any connections to the men that we have already dealt with. Someone in the city must know what we are looking for."

Leonardo clapped his hands together. "Well, good luck, my friends! Please, come back in a few days, and I'll have the time to look over those pages for you."

"Thank you, Leonardo." With a nod, Ezio led me out of the buildings and back into the busy streets. I wasn't sure exactly where we were going, but Ezio must have already constructed a plan beforehand, for he immediately began to walk down the streets, heading back down the streets that we had just come from.

"Where are we going?" I asked, allowing my gaze to fall around the buildings towering over me.

"To the _Palazzo dela Seta_. It's where our next target resides."

"How do you know that?"

"Obviously, you weren't paying attention during the tour," Ezio mumbled, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it and just follow me." We weaved back through the markets and ending up standing in front of a huge building. I found it somewhat funny yet disturbing how I didn't remember even walking by the buildings. The front gates were heavily guards, about five guards standing with their hands on sword hilts, prepared to strike at any given moment.

Ezio grinned. "An innocent man would have no reason for such protection. I think we may have found our man."

"Let's not be so hasty," I argued, taking a hold of Ezio's arms. "He's obviously a high figure—anyone would want to protect their power. We have to find something else."

"Then let's break in," Ezio suggested, looking up at the Seta. "I'm sure if we find his archives or something, we'll surely discover his intentions."

I nodded. "Sounds like a better plan than just slicing throats as we go."

We stood in the shadows of the nearby building, not drawing attention to ourselves. There was no way that we were going to be able to get in the building without causing a fuss, and with a fuss, Emilio would lock down the building. None of the homes or structures next to the building were close enough for us to jump from the rooftops, and there seemed to be no other entrance. Somehow, we would have to get through the front gates.

"I'll distract the guards," I suggested, willing to take one for the team. "When they're not paying attention, you'll slip inside and find what we want."

"How will you lose them?" Ezio asked as if to challenge me. "You'll be killed."

"Then how else are we going to get inside?" I said exasperatedly, looking up into his eagle eyes. "We've only so many options, Ezio!"

It looked like he went to argue, his mouth opening wide, but then he stopped, and he just stared at me, almost as if he were confused. I stared back up at him, not entirely sure what he was trying to tell me though his gaze, what it was the he wanted to know. A movement from the corner of my eye stopped me, and I quickly turned to see what was happening.

A group men came running by us, heading straight for the Seta building. I was shocked when they all shoved past the guards there, several of them stopping to fight the guards while a few continued running to the building. Those few jumped up onto the building, scaling up the side as if it were no small feat. I watched in amazement as one of them leaped and pulled himself higher and higher, pulling off climbing techniques that I had never saw before.

My awe was cut short. In the next moment, blood splattered against the gray stone of the building, and the climbing man cried out, falling off of the building with an arrow sticking out of his calf. Ezio and I simultaneously moved forward, approaching the fighting. The man stood and hobbled towards us, and I realized as he nearly shoved Ezio aside that he was in fact a woman. "Quickly!" She told us. "Follow me!"

The assassin gazed over at me for a brief moment before we glanced back at the guards suddenly running for us, and we did as the woman said, taking up after her. At first, it seemed like the arrow sticking through her leg wasn't giving her any trouble, but as we ran further, she started to slow, blood oozing through her pants. Within a few more meters, she went down, stumbling to the ground.

My heart seemed to stutter when Ezio knelt down without a second thought, guiding the woman's arm over his shoulders as he lifted her up into his arms. Then he continued running down the street, carrying her like a wounded bird, causing a bitter feeling to twist up tightly inside of me. I still followed, wanting to see this through until the end.

Not but two steps later, two guards ran around the corner and approached us. Instead of having Ezio drop the girl, I decided to give a helping hand in the situation and stepped in with my blade ready, stepping up to fight them as I turned to Ezio and gestured with my head for him to go on. His eyes caught with mine briefly as he nodded, a silent "be careful" before he continued on the path that the woman was telling him to go. I watched him for a moment until he disappeared around the corner. Then I diverted my attention back to the guards, holding up my sword, setting my face straight and swallowing back the fear.

One of the guards charged right for me, and I quickly jumped to the side, dodging him. The other attacked me then, catching me off guard as I barely blocked his attack. With the momentum of the movement, however, I thrust all of my weight forward, knocking the guard off balance. My foot immediately hooked back behind his ankle, and I ripped his leg out from under him, sending him to the ground. All in the same flow, I twisted around and prepared for my other attacker. His blade screeched against mine, my hands gripping so tightly around the handle that I thought for sure that my fingers were going to be ripped off. Finally, I pushed him back, his blade knocked aside as I rammed my knees up into his gut, sending him down to the ground in a loud huff. I kicked him back with my foot, the guard falling spread eagle on the ground, his wide eyes trained on the sharp point of my blade that I was pointing at him. I cocked my arm back, ready to swing and slice his throat.

And then I stopped, my blade lowering as I stared down at the man who was trembling in the face of death, his dark, wide eyes filled with fear, sweat running down his face in small beads. He was fighting for what he believed was right. He had a family to protect too.

What was I doing?

I dropped the blade, the metal clattering against the stone path. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another flood of guards, and I decided that I needed to keep moving—I had saved Ezio and the girl enough time. Forgetting the blade, I jumped over the man and began to sprint down the street where I had seen Ezio run down. It didn't take me long to find them again, Ezio's white hood bobbing through the crowds. I chased after him with all of my might, hoping to lose myself in the crowd so the pursuing guards wouldn't catch me.

When I finally broke free form the suffocating grip of the crowd, I found myself approaching a small water canal. In the water was a small boat, and in that was Ezio and the girl along with two other men dressed in similar clothes. Ezio beckoned for me to hurry, so I scrambled into the boat, and one of the men pushed us away from the dock.

"We have to be careful of guards on the roof now," the man guiding the boat said. "They'll have arrows to strike us." Ezio nodded to me, the woman still sitting in his lap as he cradled her. Her face was scrunched in pain, and her pant leg was drenched in a red ooze.

Glancing over at the other man in the boat, I had to take a double glance to make sure that my eyes were not playing tricks. "You!" I breathed, making the dark eyes turn to me. I jabbed my finger accusingly at him. "You're the thief who tried to steal my necklace!"

He paused for a long moment, staring at my finger as his brow furrowed, trying to think of some excuse. But his attention was taken by the movement on the rooftops above us. I noticed as well, seeing guards aiming their arrows to us. "Look, I'm sorry," he managed to say, "but I need you to help me take care of these men so the others can make it to safety!"

"Fine. But don't think I've forgiven you!" I watched as the young thief stood in the boat, making it wobble strangely from side to side, and he jumped over the edge, landing on a low dock that we had floated by. I quickly followed in suite, giving Ezio a quick nod before I launched myself across the small gap and began climbing the buildings with the man. He was an amazing climber, so much better than even I was. I had always thought that I had some sort of specialty with.

Upon the roofs, both the thief and I quickly approached the archers. The man shoved the first guard off of the roof, and he plummeted down into the canals, splashing noisily to the surface. The archer on the other side of the canal switched his aim to both of us. The thief gestured quickly to a wooden structure that was jutting out from the building. Running across that, I launched myself across the rooftop, barely dodging an arrow. The archer had no time to put another arrow into his bow—I quickly disarmed him, twisting my fist into his shirt before I spun him around and pushed him over the side of the buildings, another loud splash echoing throughout the canals. We kept upon the roofs, running along the canal on both sides, pushing aside and taking care of guards that we came upon. Not a single drop of blood was spilled, which was how I preferred it—most of the men had been pushed off to the side. The plan was a success, and soon, the man steering the small boat directed it into a small harbor, where Ezio stood up with the woman in his arms, and took her into the back door of a building there. On my side of the canal, there was one more guard aiming an arrow to try and stop the thief on the other side, so I quickly rushed forward, knocking the wooden bow from his hands and once again pushing the man over the edge.

It surprised me when he was gripping at my arm, his eyes wide with fear. "Please!" He breathed, struggling to keep his balance. "Please, I don't know how to swim!"

I'm not sure what was more influential on me stopping; the fact that the man and I had a common misfortune, or the fact that I could have killed him with a simple release of my hand. I didn't like it. With all of my force, I tugged the man towards me so that he stumbled back onto the roof, his armor clattering against the tile. But his foot bumped against the back of my leg as he fell, and I soon found myself careening back over the roof edge. Crying out, my arms flailed about to try and find some sort of ledge to stop myself from plummeted, but I had no such luck. I managed to suck in a deep breath before I was submerged in freezing, stinky, cold water.

I tried my hardest to actually swim. My arms were pushing, my legs kicking, but my energy seemed to be sapped away by the chill, and I could hardly move at all. Before true panic could hit me, however, I was being pulled up out of the water, being knelt down onto the hard cobblestone ground. I coughed, realizing that I had accidentally breathed in some water during the rescue, and I gazed up at my savior.

The thief sat there on his heels, staring down at me with grim eyes.

With a shaking hand, I brushed the tangled strands of hair from my face as my body rippled with shivers. "I never got your name," I muttered, teeth chattering.

"It's Ugo."

"I'm Narina." We shook hands like we were meeting in a situation that wasn't as dire. "Well, since you saved me, Ugo," I allowed, dropping his hand, "I'll forgive you for trying to steal my necklace earlier." I let my hand run over my side, feeling that the necklace was still tucked safely in my vest.

"Fine." He stood, reaching down to help me up. His head started to sway from side to side, his brow furrowing. "Why is it that you have come to a floating city when you cannot even swim yourself?"

Frowning, I began to follow him across the docking area behind the building and into the back door that Ezio had gone into. "Shut up," I mumbled, feeling extremely grimy from my unannounced dip in the water.

"Let's get you inside so you don't freeze to death." He led me inside of the building, nothing too fancy or exciting, aside from the screams that were coming from the cracked open door. I recognized the voice as the girl who had been injured, and when I tried to glance into the room as Ugo led me past it, I only saw a flash of white that signified my assassin. I realized that I was terribly sad that he had been there to save the girl but he hadn't been there to save me.

Ugo led me to a small room were he threw a blanket on me and told me to dry myself off. When I did, he handed me a change of clothes that were, surprisingly, just my size. He stepped outside of the room so that I could change. "So, what exactly are you guys?" I asked as I finished tying up the sash. He peeked into the room, saw that I was done, and came back into the room.

"We're the _Venezia_ Thieves Guild," he explained, folding his arms. "We've been trying to stop Emilio for some time now—his reign over the markets has gotten out of hand."

"Ezio and I are trying to stop him as well. We're pretty sure he's in league with our enemies."

"It wouldn't be surprising. That man is a twisted excuse of a human."

I inclined my chin, the screams from the other room growing louder and louder. I raised a brow at Ugo. "Is she going to be fine?"

"Rosa will be fine," he assured me, waving a hand in the air. "She's been through worse in her lifetime. Give her a few weeks and she'll be back on her feet."

Nodding, I reached up at patted at my damp, tangled hair. "Well, thanks for the clothes and again for saving me."

"I can't believe you don't know how to swim," he muttered, smirking and shaking his head. "It's second nature to me, so it's just so weird that you don't know how to."

"I'm sorry that I haven't ever had the time to learn," I drawled, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, can you take me back to Leonardo's?"

He seemed taken back at that. "You're not going to stay here?"

"Um, no. All of my things are back at Leonardo's."

"But aren't you going to stay here and help us with Emilio?"

"Sure. But I just want to go back to Leonardo's right now." I went to walk out of the room, but Ugo caught my arm, pulling me to a halt.

"Why don't you just wait until Ezio goes over there? I'm sure he won't be long—he's just talking with Antonio."

It was childish, but I didn't want to go with Ezio. Along with the unfair claims that he had made about his brother, he didn't seemed all that worried that I wasn't on speaking terms with him. So I was going to let him have it. At least until I got an apology.

"No, I'm sure he'll find himself busy. Besides, I think you know your way through the city better than Ezio does."

He seemed reluctant, but agreed, taking me through the small building and walking me out the front door. Rosa's screams had died, but Ezio was nowhere in sight. A few steps out of the building, however, we were stopped. "Ugo!" A man was calling, and we both turned to look at a man with shoulder length, dark hair, neatly groomed facial hair. "Rosa wants nothing to do with me—could you make sure she obeys Bianca's orders."

Ugo shot me a side glance. "I was just taking Narina back to Leonardo's."

The man looked at me, and his dark eyes widened, a smirk gracing his face. "Ah, so _this_ is Narina!" He walked up to me, scooping up my hand and pressing more kisses than necessary to the back of my hand. "It is my pleasure to finally meet you!" Another kiss. "My name is Antonio, leader of the Venice Thieves Guild."

I literally had to rip my hand away from him, pressing it to the small of my back, a forced smile appearing on my lip. "Charmed," I managed, taking a step back.

"I'll take Narina back to Leonardo's if you will go check up on Rose, Ugo."

"Of course." Ugo nodded to me and went back into the building.

Bracing myself, I took a hold of Antonio's offered arm and he swooped me out into the streets. "Do you know where Leonardo's workshop is?"

"Certainly! He's actually a dear friend of mine! I heard of his sudden relocation days ago."

Well, that was good. I wouldn't end up lost after all. "Well, thank you for taking me there."

"Of course. I know how you and Ezio get into your fights."

_ That_ made me gaze up curiously at the man. "How do you know?"

"I have connections," he explained with a smirk, his dark eyes still on the crowds. "I have eyes and ears all over the city. Stories have been passed by my ears. As for the most recent squabble, I can pick up on a few things."

As long at he didn't know the specific details, then I was good. "Let me guess—you knew Giovanni as well."

"_Si_, and I am very good friends with Mario."

Surprise, surprise. Sighing, I pressed closer to Antonio to dodge a passerby. "So Emilio is our next target."

"Yes. I just sent Ezio across the city to study the Seta and figure out which way is the best to enter. My sources say that Emilio and a few other men are planning on murdering the Doge so that one of their own can take the seat, although that has not been confirmed. Either way, we will stop them."

"Agreed."

We said no more as we went through the streets, weaving around the canals and keeping from the watchful eye of guard. After a bit, we finally approached the giant studio, and Antonio led me to the door. "Tell Leonardo I said hi," he said with a soft smile. "I must be somewhere else right now. Are you coming back to the thieves guild later?"

I reluctantly nodded. "Maybe...tomorrow? I'll wander aimlessly around through the city when I want to go back."

Antonio chuckled, reaching up to tap the side of his nose. "Just be careful. There's more to this city than thieves and smelly water. Keep safe Narina."

Inclining my chin, I took his words to heart. "And you, Antonio. It was a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine." With that, the Master Thief turned and walked down through the streets, disappearing in the crowds, and leaving me alone at Leonardo's door. I sighed, shaking my head as if to clear my head. Something wasn't sitting well with me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I knocked on the door before I let myself in, finding myself in a maze of all of Leonardo's things, to which I opted to help him unpack for the rest of the day.

* * *

I think I waited so long to go wandering through the city because I wanted him to come to me first. Alas, after three days of no assassin, my bitterness was ebbed away by an overwhelming feeling of melancholy. Even if he could irritate me at times, life wasn't the same without Ezio, especially when I was in an unfamiliar city. Leonardo _was_ nice to have around, a familiar face, but I preferred being in Ezio's safety more.

After eating a small breakfast with Leonardo, I changed into a common dress and hoped that I could blend more easily in the crowds with such a get up. I tried to peer into the images in my mind of walking through the streets with Antonio, but I couldn't remember which way to go.

They must have been waiting for me to make my appearance out on the street, for I didn't have to walk around long. About ten minutes of weaving through the streets, a man dropped down from the building next to me, making me and everyone around me gasp out in surprise.

Ugo stood straight and tall in front of me, a small smirk on his face. "Lost?"

I let my guard down, allowing a smile back to him. "Yes, actually."

Laughing, he waved for me to follow, and within a few minutes and a few turns, we were walking up to the small building tucked against the small canal. Ugo pushed open a large, wooden gate that led into a small courtyard just outside the building. In the courtyard were several men, all dressed like Ugo, all relaxing like they hadn't a care in the world. When I walked in, however, they all turned and looked at me. A hushed chuckle rippled through the lot of them, before they went back to talking amongst each other, already completely forgetting me. As I looked around, a question popped up into my head. "So, what has been going on, lately? What have I missed?"

"Ah, nothing much." Ugo flopped back on a crate, sprawling out like the others. "Antonio has been discussing with Ezio about a plan to storm Seta tonight. Neither of them haven't been in at all this morning."

My shoulders slumped. Ezio wasn't there. "So, we're starting the fight tonight?"

"I'm assuming so. Antonio has put me in charge of watching the rooftops." He paused for a moment. "You can come help me if you want to take part in this."

I liked the idea of getting into a battle, something to take my mind off of a certain someone. "Sure! But wait..." I pouted. "I saw Rosa try to climb the Seta, and she did this jumping, leaping thing that I have no idea how to do."

Ugo snorted. "Please. That is an easy technique. I'm sure you could get it with minimal practice. Here." He pointed up the side of the building. "Climb up to the top of the first window, and I'll talk you through it."

"I'm not climbing in a dress," I argued, shaking my head.

"You'll be fine," he insisted, waving his hand at me, his dark eyes glinting. "Just climb."

We had the rest of the day. And climbing in a dress couldn't be _too_ bad, right? I went to the wall and heaved myself up higher and higher, shifting my weight around appropriately so that the dress posed no problem. Once I got to the window, I looked down over my shoulder at Ugo, who was still sitting on the crates, smiling up at me.

"You look rather silly up there. Like a monkey."

"Shut up and tell me what to do."

He explained how I was supposed to thrust myself up the side of the wall, throwing all of my weight upward so that I could grab at the ledge that had been just beyond my reach before. When I tried the first time, I fell and crashed to the ground, all of the men in the courtyard bursting with laughter. I sucked up the embarrassment and tried again and again. Hours passed, and although I had ceased crashing to the ground, I couldn't get my grip right after the jump. Finally, as noon rolled around, I was exhausted, bruised and beaten. While I took a quick rest, I watched as Ugo did a few runs, showing me how it was done. As he was on his third run through, the back door to the building opened.

Rosa came hobbling out, no crutch at her side, although I could see her leg was still hurting her. Her dark gaze landed on me and she stopped, tilting her head.

Ignoring Ugo, I stood up and smiled at her. "You're Rosa, right?" I held out my hand. "My name is Narina."

"I know who you are," she muttered, not impressed, but shook my hand anyway. "Ezio's not here."

"I know."

"Then why are you here?"

I pointed up to the thief that now stood on the roof. "He was teaching me how to climb buildings like you are able to. Although I'm not learning very fast..."

"Really?" Rosa used her chin to gesture to the wall. "Let's see what you've got."

Strangely enough, it was more embarrassing doing the attempt in front of Rosa than it had been in front of all of the men. When I climbed back down to the ground after another failed attempt, my cheeks were burning with chagrin, like some expectation had been unmet.

She appeared beside me. "You're doing it all wrong—Ugo sucks at teaching people."

"I heard that!" He shouted down from the roof.

"Good! Then you can shove it up your ass!" Rosa shouted back.

"So," I cut in, diverting a fight that was threatening to break out, "what am I doing wrong?"

"Wearing a dress first of all." She smiled at me softly, quirking an eyebrow at me. "You're throwing your weight around all wrong. Ugo is too much of a brute to teach someone as small as you and I."

Taking to the wall again, Rosa went through her own steps, and, even though they were essentially the same instructions, I managed to actually haul myself up the wall. I went a few more runs, succeeding every time, and finding myself extremely pleased. Ugo wasn't as pleased, and got into a heated argument with Rosa about teaching methods and everything. While they had a little brawl, I meandered around on the roof, scoping out the city that I hadn't really gotten the time to explore. It was a glittering jewel, that was for certain. If only it smelled better. After the fight was done and Rosa had gruffly gone back inside, Ugo came and told me that we needed to go talk to the other thieves about the attack for the night. I didn't see how I had to be a part of it too, but I went with him anyway.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent with the other members of the guild, either training or talking about the battle. Rosa came and saved me before the sun went down, and had me help her properly wrap and clean her wound and dress her in some light armor and I in some extra slacks and shirt laying around, and we went to eat afterward.

Night fell. Ugo came and got Rosa and I from dinner. Under the guiding hand of Antonio, who had gotten back at some point in the day, we all moved through the shadows of the _Venezia_ streets. As we moved, I managed to squeeze through the group, leaving behind a bickering Rosa and Ugo, and going to Antonio at the head of the group.

I reached for his shoulder. "Antonio," I whispered.

His head nearly flung off with how fast he looked back at me. "Narina? What are you doing here?"

"Helping," I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"This mission is too...! I can't have...! You need to..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ezio is going to kill me."

I'm not sure if it was because Ezio and I had been arguing about Federico before, but when Antonio said those words, I was vividly reminded of the same words spoken by Ezio when we had gone to see Federico in prison all those years ago. And, without even deliberating the action, I spoke the same words. "No, he won't. Is he at Seta already?"

"_Si_." Antonio looked forward again, his head tilting back as he looked up at a giant building ,the Seta, I realized. "With any luck, he is already in there and we just have to give him back up." He raised his hand in the air along with his voice. "Men! This is it! Do not hold back!"

At Antonio's voice, I felt some sort of rush kick in, like my blood was on fire, and all of the thieves broke from the group, some melting into the shadows, others running straight for the front gates. I was pulled away from Antonio before I could ask him any more questions, and then Ugo and I were scaling the building, the other thieves fighting the guards at the front gates. Blood was being spilled, death was filling the air, and the panic of the fight rose dramatically before Ugo and I were to the top of the roof. Inside of the Seta was no better, I realized, as Ugo and I went to the edge, gazing down into the square courtyard below. The whole yard was lit with candlelight, flickering as if a hint to the evil things working within.

The archers that had been posted on the roofs pinned their arrows on the two of us. Ugo reached out and squeezed my shoulder. I nodded back to him and we went our separate ways, each of us going in opposite directions to take care of the guards. The first guard had dropped his bow and pulled out his dagger, aiming it at me. My heart was rushing so quickly from all of the adrenaline. Instead of anticipating his attack, I rushed forward, ducking down and ramming my shoulder into the man's chest, knocked him off balance to which he stumbled and fell down the roof, landing a few floors down on one of the small balconies below. I continued running across the roof to the next man, waiting for me with his sword drawn and eyes narrowed. Drawing my own blade, I blocked his swing, nearly losing my footing on the tiles below my feet. After a flailing about a bit, I caught my balance and blocked another attack, putting all of my weight against him and knocking him off of his feet. He smacked back against the roof his blade skittering across the tiles.

I stepped over him, kneeling down to press my blade to his throat, my blood pumping loudly in my ears. Pressing the sharp edge into his neck, the man's eyes were so wide with fear, his body shaking in terror. He knew his life was about to end, the realization flashing in his light blue eyes. Fear. Terror. Sorrow. A thought came to me in the split moment that he had a family back at home, waiting for him to come back from his job that kept him away all night. Rocking back onto my heels, I took the blade away and stared down at the man. I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him.

Suddenly, a loud ruckus came from the opening into the courtyard. I gave the man one last look before I stood straight and ran to the edge of the roof. When I gazed down, I that that there were guards everywhere, panic rising in voices. I realized that my eyes were searching over the courtyard to find that familiar white hood, but it was no where to be seen.

"Emilio is dead! Emilio is dead!" I happened to look up at just the right time to see Ugo dropping down onto the balconies and down lower. I followed in suite and dropped down over the edge of the roof, into the courtyard, followed behind by several other thieves. With the help of the other thieves, Ugo and I pushed back the guards that were still in the courtyard, fighting for a dead man. I found myself staying back from the main fights, finding myself slightly disturbed with how wrong it all felt.

It was as if the guards suddenly realized just how outnumbered they were. Like the tides, they suddenly all washed away, flooding out of the Seta, admitting defeat. And just like that, the battle was over. It seemed too good to be true. It always seemed too good to be true. And usually, it was.

There was suddenly so much movement, everyone rushing forward in the courtyard, cheers of celebration echoing against the walls. I lost sight of Ugo in all of the mess and ended up getting caught up in all of the excitement, cheering with the thieves around me, some even throwing their arms around me and spinning me around in their elation.

"We are victorious, my brothers and sisters!" Antonio's voice cried out, coming from one of the balconies up above. Everyone exploded in cheers again, and banners with the crest of the guild came fluttering down from the rooftops. Seta was ours.

Since there were so many people in the courtyard, I found myself very disoriented, not knowing where to go to get out of it all.

"Great job, Ezio!" I heard over the excited chatter. "We did it!"

I turned to the voice and blindly pushed my way through the bodies, wanting to get to the man who had made this all possible. Finally, I broke free from the large, bustling crowd, and was faced with a small group, Rosa, Ugo, Antonio, and Ezio all standing in a circle.

"Congratulations," Rosa was saying, reaching out and taking a hold of Ezio's shoulder. He smiled down at her, his hood removed, his golden eyes glowing in the dim candle light, more golden from the flame. The light enunciated his stubbly jaw, his strong face, and his pink scar marring his lips. Something that Antonio said made Ezio laugh, his straight teeth flashing. My heart felt like it had stuttered and lodged itself in my throat. By God, I didn't think it possible, but I had actually missed Ezio.

Antonio made a waving gesture through the air, and with that, he and many of the other thieves, including Rosa and Ugo. The young man looked back over his shoulder at me, and nodded a proud nod, a small smile on his face. I nodded back to him, trying to put all of my thanks in that nod, but he was lost in the flow of the thieves.

When I looked back over, Ezio was looking at me. Staring.

I ran to him, throwing my arms around him as he caught me. We embraced for a long moment before I pulled away, looking up at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, his eyes moving down my body as he took a step away. "And you? When did you get tangled up in all of this."

I shrugged. "About four years ago. Followed this handsome, little boy to a small town called Monteriggioni." His golden eyes met mine again, a heavy brow lifting. "We're in this together, right? I wasn't about to let you do this alone."

"I haven't seen you in a few days," he pointed out. "I figured you would be sitting at Leonardo's still."

"Well, no one came to tell me that this was all going down. I had to figure it out by myself." I gestured to the entry to the courtyard where many thieves were still piling out of. "What's happening now?"

"They're going to move the Thief base here. It's a bigger building and is now unoccupied."

"So you did kill Emilio?"

"Poor bastard was hiding from the fear of his death."

"Most people are." I looked up him again. "So what now?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm sure the thieves will want some help with setting up the base here in the next few days. But for now, we need to go get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

"Oh. Are you going to come back to Leonardo's? He does have a room set up for you, you know."

Ezio seemed rather surprised at that. "Really? I might have to take advantage of that."

"Then let's go—hopefully we don't get lost."

"No worries," Ezio assured. "I know the city pretty well, now. Antonio has had me running around a lot these past few days."

"Sounds like fun." There were no more words as we made our way out of Seta and into the streets that had died down in all of the activity. I could imagine the Doge receiving news of the attack from the thieves, and how the rumors of the assassin being in the town were coming true.

Ezio did know his way pretty well, and took me straight to the art studio. The door was unlocked under Ezio's hand, and we both went inside. There was still a candle lit on the small desk tucked in the corner, the room filled with boxes being unpacked. At the desk, Leonardo sat with his arms folded on the desk, his face tucked into his elbow. Sleeping like a small child. I couldn't help but smile at the sight, Leonardo always having that "you're-never-too-old-to-be-a-kid" vibe to him.

With a chuckle, Ezio took a step towards the man. "Should we wave him up?"

"No!" I took a firm hold of Ezio's arm. "No, let him sleep."

We sneaked by Leonardo and went into the back rooms where the bedrooms were. I walked by my room and opened up the next door down, gesturing into it. "This is your room."

"Huh. This shop is a lot bigger than I had first thought."

I felt the distance that he was putting up between us, and then I remembered that I was still waiting for my apology. "Yeah." He brushed by me, a swirl of his heat, his smell enveloping me, making a shudder bolt through me. "So, I'll see you tomorrow. The wash room is just down the hall and the kitchen is on the first door to the right of your room." Without giving him another moment, I went to my room, kicking off my borrowed boots and kicking them under the bed. Making my way through the dark and finding the desk in the room, I used a small flint and thin strip of coarse paper to start a small flame and light the candle on the desk.

My back went straight suddenly, my body tensing in response to the presence that I felt.

"Narina."

I looked over my shoulder, Ezio standing in the doorway. "Hey. What do you need?"

He didn't say anything. With slow steps, he walked into the room and sat on my bed, hand folded in his lap. I kept my eyes on him, and he kept his on me. He gestured with his chin to me. "Your necklace..."

Automatically, my hand reached up to my collar bone, which was bare. The two simple words reminded me of how absurd Ezio's accusations had been. "Yeah. When Ugo tried to steal it, the chain broke. Leonardo said he'd look for another chain once everything settled down."

"Ah." He went quiet again, watching me as I walked across the room, reaching for the small comb that I had bought in the market a few days before. As I tried to yank the teeth through my tangled hair, keeping my back turned to Ezio, he finally sighed. "Look," he muttered, his voice low and heavy. "I...I need to say that I'm sorry." I didn't say anything, not feeling enough of my fire to tell him that he indeed needed to. "I want to explain myself, though. I want you to try and see how I look at all of this."

"Okay." I put the comb down, spinning around to face him, leaning back against the desk. "Do explain."

He looked away, heaving a deep breath before he looked back at me. "Back before this all started," he began slowly, "about a week before...everything changed, Federico came home after taking you back to the Mancini's." Even when I tried to remember, Federico had taken me back to the old couple so many times that I couldn't remember specific times. "He ran into me in the hall and I had made some smart comment about him always catering to your every wish. He laughed at me, but wrapped his arm around me and told me in a hushed voice that he needed to talk to me." Ezio paused for a moment, his eyes pinned onto his folded hands as if he were lost in the memory. "He was so serious that I began to worry that something bad might have happened. Once we were alone in the front room, no other eyes or ears around, he looked at me so intensely and told me that he was going to ask you to marry him."

A breath hitched in my throat, and I stared more intently at Ezio. Federico was going to...?

"I called him crazy," Ezio muttered. "But he insisted that, once he got back from Milan, he was going to ask you. I tried to talk him out of it, saying that there was so much more girls in the world that he had yet to meet. But he just smiled at me and told me that he didn't want any of those girls. Only you." My mind went to that last, innocent moment that Federico and I had, him inviting me to go to Milan with him. With a great deal of pain, I wondered if he had planned to ask for my hand on that trip. Why was Ezio telling me this?

Ezio was quiet again, his hands now wringing together. "It...from that day on, in my mind, you were Federico's wife." I looked over to him again, seeing where he was finally going with the story. "So now...with all that's going on, with what I think of you, how I feel for you..." He buried his face in his hands. "I'm just so confused."

We sat there for a very long moment, nothing there but our breaths, Ezio's rasping chin, and the beating of our hearts.

Taking a deep breath, I felt the pressure behind my eyes, but no warmth flooded my sight. "Ezio, a tree can grow to be vast and beautiful, full of life with leaves all a perfect shade of green. But other saplings can grow around that tree, and have the chance to grow more beauteous and full from the protection of the aging tree nearby. Even if the old tree is small in comparison, the new tree growing does not negate the first tree. The shadow will still fall." After a small moment to take it all in, Ezio finally looked back up at me, his golden eyes full of questions. "What I'm saying, Ezio," I concluded, finally feeling the hot pressure, trying desperately to hold it back, "is that I'm confused, too. But I'd rather be confused _with_ you than face it alone. You are and forever will be my best friend."

A smile spread on his face as if the thought tickled him. "So, confused best friend, is it?"

Laughing under my breath, I nodded. "Confused best friends, yes."

"Good." He pushed himself up from the bed, taking a step towards the door. "I just wanted to let you know that you are...you..." He took a deep breath. "You're not like the other women that I spend time with, I promise."

"I think I always knew that," I said, folding my arms. "If I was, I'd already be kicked aside."

He hummed under his breath. "True, although I'm not as brutal as you make it sound."

"I'd rather not talk about it. It seems to be quite the touchy subject between us."

"Right. Jealousy is a strong thing."

"Hah." I tilted my chin down, looking down at my feet. "Is that what it's called?" _Is_ that what it was called? I never put the word to how I felt but...it was true, wasn't it?

"Narina."

I looked up at him again, surprised that he hadn't already made his escape. "What?"

He actually walked forward, towards me. My heart did a little stutter as the tips of his boots brushed against my toes, his hands going to my waist, gently pulling me forward. His mouth pressed to my forehead first, making my eyes flutter shut. Then the scar moved down lower, pressed to my eyelid, my cheek, my jaw. When they molded to my lips, I felt a shiver rattle through me, a sigh falling from between the soft kisses Ezio was giving me.

Once, twice—enough times that it allowed me to wrap my arms around his belted and buckled waist, tasting him, breathing him, being surrounded by him. He finally pulled away, his golden eyes burning into me, making my insides turn to puddy and yet tighten in such a way that it made me dizzy.

He shook his head slowly, his nose brushing against mine. "You're too perfect."

"So I've been told," I murmured, "but that is very debatable."

"Not as much as you think." With a grin, Ezio took a step back, releasing me from his hold. "As much as I would like to engage in one of our infamous arguments with you, I am very tired. Perhaps we can continue this tomorrow?"

"Of course." I smiled, reaching out and pressing my hand against his arm, feeling his thick muscle underneath the thin sleeve of his shirt. "Don't tell anyone, but I was actually starting to miss you."

With a chuckle, Ezio turned and walked to the door. "I missed you too, Narina. I'll see you in the morning."

Even when he closed the door behind him, leaving me in the silence of my room, I found myself standing by the desk in a daze, my lips tingling, my stomach doing all sorts of funny flips. A fit of giggles overcame me, suddenly, and I crawled into bed, laughing into the pillows for so long that my cheeks actually hurt. Even if I was more confused and feeling more complex feelings than I had ever anticipated on having, it was the first time in my remembered life time that I fell asleep with a small smile on my face.

* * *

**SO SORRY THAT THIS WAS A LONG TIME FOR AN UPDATE**

**I'm not even sure what happened.**

**I went home last week and got to hang out with my best friend Natalee for the first time in three months, so that was so super nice! That might have had something to do with it! **

**And now, Finals week is coming up, and I'm going to be super, super busy here these next few weeks! Sorry if there is no updates! :C**

**Totally going to go for self-promoting right now, but all of you should check out my tumblr! I post a lot of stuff about this story plus other random shit about me on there, so go to my FF profile, and there will be a link there that leads to my tumblr! Shanks!**

**Thank you so much for waiting patiently!**

**Please review! :D**


	17. The Unknown Shadows

**I apologize for the long wait. I have had a very and extremely full plate these past few weeks. First of all, finals and studying for those; second of all, I've been thinking of a different story line for this since people don't like the fact that I'm sticking too close to the original; and third of all, I came home from College to a dying dog, so I spent days and days loving her and telling her my goodbyes (and being all depressed and sad about a dying pet doesn't exactly make me want to write, either...).**

**But here it is—just in time for the holidays.**

**Thank you all for being so patient and supportive!**

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
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* * *

"_Though your arms and legs are under,  
__love will be the echo in your ears  
__when all is lost and plunder.  
__My love will be there still."_

"Requiem on Water" by Imperial Mammoth

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**The Unknown Shadows**

* * *

"Ooh." Ugo shook his head. "Bad move."

"Oh, really now?" I leaned forward, resting my head in my hands. "Then you take your move."

He tapped his lips with his finger, his eyes pinned down on the table, lost deep in thought. "Don't try to think too hard," Rosa mocked, reaching her foot forward to tap Ugo on the shoulder.. "Your head might explode if you work your brain too much."

"Shh!" Ugo waved an angry hand through the air.. "You're ruining my concentration."

"Oh, this will be good," Rosa muttered, grinning like a cat. "Ugo concentrating? He's going to over exert himself!"

I burst up laughing, loving the way that Rosa would press Ugo's buttons all the time. Even if it made him moody, it was still fun to watch.

"Shut up, both of you!" Ugo grumbled angrily under his breath, thrumming his fingers on the table, his eyes pinned on the carved and painted board in front of us. Finally, he let his finger run over the smooth surface of his painted rock, moving it across the board to another painted square.

A small smile appeared on my lips as he withdrew his hand, and I moved my own piece across the board. Once I placed down the rock, I sighed triumphantly and leaned back against the wall of the building. "Checkmate."

"God dammit!" Ugo snapped, slamming his fists into the table. "You're cheating! I know you are!"

"Am not!" I laughed. "Just admit that I"m better at chess than you are!"

"Go fuck yourself," Ugo spat, standing gruffly from the table. "Both of you!" Angrily, he stomped off, leaving the courtyard in a fury.

Rosa was chuckling. "What a sore loser. I swear he's still eight years old."

"I think all men throw temper tantrums from time to time." I cleared the board, gathering the "chess" pieces into a small pouch.

"You are rather good at chess," Rosa complimented. "How long have you been playing?"

"Ezio's older brother taught me how to play years ago," I explained, tying off the pouch and placing it on the table. "I guess it just stuck with me. Occasionally, Ezio or his sister play it with me at the Villa."

"Ah, I see." Rosa jumped down from the crate she had been sitting on. "Come. Let's go find Ugo before he sulks himself to death."

Laughing, I stood up with her. Over the few days before, Rosa had spent a lot of time with me. There were only a few other female thieves in the guild, but she said that they were all either too arrogant to spend time with her, or they were too busy with other male thieves. Even if Rosa was one of the higher ranking thieves in the guild, she said it seemed like the other women thought her lower than them. So having me around was a completely different opportunity for her. It was nice to have another girlfriend aside from Claudia, who was technically my sister so it didn't count. Not to mention, Rosa and I were very similar, so it made getting along with each other extremely easy. The only problem was that she wanted to know everything about Ezio. _Everything_. At first, I thought it was just curiosity on her part, but as the days passed, I realized that the more she asked, the more—dare I say it?—jealous I became. I didn't like how she was trying to get herself closer to Ezio. I didn't want to share him.

Speaking of Ezio, he had been gone all that morning, scouting through the town to see if there were any more movements of our enemies. My confused best friend had convinced me to stay at the Seta building until he returned, saying he'd be back in a blink of an eye.

As Rosa and I walked out of the courtyard, we halted in our steps. Ezio was briskly approaching us, weaving through the crowds, his hand reaching up to lower his hood. "Ezio!" both Rosa and I greeted, shot each other a look, then looked back at the assassin.

"Where have you been?" Rosa continued asking as he approached us.

"Did you find anything out?" I asked, hoping he'd ignore Rosa's question. Stopping in front of us, Ezio's gaze flipped from Rosa to me a few times before he shook his head. "I need to talk to Antonio immediately."

"Why? What's happened?" I asked as Rosa said the thief was in the Seta building.

"Our work isn't done here," Ezio muttered, walking back into the Seta courtyard, me right at his side. "The Doge is in danger—a man that was talking with Emilio is planning on poisoning the Doge tonight so that one of the Templar's can reign as Doge."

"No!" I breathed. "_Venezia_ will fall in that case!"

"Which is why we must hurry. Rosa." We stopped our advance as Ezio turned to the young woman following behind us. She eagerly smiled at him. "I need you to gather up the thieves that are out in town—we need to plan a strategy."

"Of course." With that, she turned and bounded away, ready and eager to do anything for this unholy man dressed in white.

Rolling my eyes, I looked back up to Ezio who had watched Rosa leave. He glanced down at me. "You look a little irritated this morning."

After considering scolding him, I tried to straighten my face. "It's...I played chess with Ugo all morning—I must still have my competitor face on."

"Ah." A crooked smile appeared on his face. "Anyway, come with me to find Antonio."

I smiled in return, and wondered idly if he had ever smiled like _that_ at Rosa."Okay." I quickly followed after him, feeling the seriousness settle into the whole situation.

It only took a few moments to find Antonio. He was in one of the common rooms in the building, talking with a few of his men there. He turned and saw Ezio and I enter the room, and he spread his arms out wide. "Ezio! You are back!" Once he gave Ezio a rough slap to the shower, he turned to Ezio. "So? What is the news?"

Ezio explained how a man by the name of Carlo Grimaldi was planning on killing the Doge during a visit with the high powered man, have one of their men take the open throne. The whole Venetian fleet would be under the influence of the Templars, and everything would eventually be tainted.

"And they call me a criminal!" The master thief spat, waving his hand through the air. Antonio stroked his chin. "What is it that you plan to do then?"

"I was actually hoping that you would help me," Ezio admitted, reaching out to take a hold of Antonio's shoulder.

"Of course, my brother." Antonio gestured his hand to the door. "I suggest that we go and study the _Pallazo Ducale_. It is the most heaviest guarded place in entire _Venezia_. We will have to find some other way inside if we wish to live to tell the tale."

Ezio nodded. "Right." He turned to me, hand reaching up to pull on his hood. "Let us go."

Returning the gesture, Antonio, Ezio and I left the Seta and set out across the floating city. The crowds were especially busy that morning, a low hum of voices and laughter. It was nice to hear everyone so alive, so happy. And I knew all of that would change if the Templars were to be put up on the Doge's perch.

We took to the markets, hiding in the crowds, ignoring the shouting merchants. I kept close to Ezio's side, having to scurry along to that I wouldn't be left behind by Ezio and Antonio's long strides. Finally, we arrived at the giant Palazzo, and I found myself gaping up at the giant building. It wasn't surprising, considering that the Doge was an extremely high figure in Venice, but—_c'mon!—_the place was _huge_! If that wasn't even enough, the building was decorated with such fine designs carved into the stone that I began to wonder how long it had taken to construct the building. The plaza in front of the Ducale was enormous, as expected. A wide circle opened up in front of it, the tiles in the path painted different colors so that, from a far enough distance, they made a giant picture. Much like the Seta, the Ducale was surrounded by a wall, guards posted at the gate. We stopped in front of the building, Ezio and Antonio mumbling to each other, pointing to the rooftops around the palazzo. They managed to construct a plan to get up on the building, and with that, we all scaled the building next to the Doge's home, launching ourselves over the street until we clawed our way up the side of the Ducale.

Our victory was short-lived. Upon the roofs, there was a fence there that halted our advance, circling the high roof that must have had the square hole that dropped down into the courtyard. Ezio tried climbing the metal fence, but it was a failed attempt, his grip slipping on the thin bars.

Admitting defeat, we quickly descended from the building, climbing our way over the surrounding fence and finding ourselves back at square one, standing in front of the Ducale with nothing to go by.

"It's impossible to get in!" Antonio muttered angrily. "The only way we would be able to get in is if...if...!" In his anger, he kicked at a rock at the toe of his boot, the rock flying and scattering a flock of nearby birds. We watched the birds fly away, disappearing into the brightness of the sky. "The only way we could get in," Antonio continued lowly, the acid so potent on his words, "is if we were birds ourselves, flying on the wind."

But we weren't birds. We were poor humans stuck on the ground, only dreaming of once soaring through the skies. I reached out to touch Antonio's shoulder, trying to calm him down. Being upset wasn't going to do us any good; we would have to put our heads together and think.

"Yes..." Ezio quietly murmured, making both Antonio and I look over at him. "If a man could fly!" Sudden excitement washed through the assassin, and he turned on his heel, nearly skipping away.

"Where are you going?" Antonio wondered, breaking free from my touch and taking a few steps after Ezio.

From under the white hood, Ezio flashed us a smile. "To visit my good friend, Leonardo."

* * *

We only had to wait a few moments at Leonardo's door, the artist seemingly waiting for us. He ushered us inside with grins and welcomes, giving Antonio a large hug, claiming that it had been a long time since he had seen the master thief.

"What the occasion that you all come to see me?" Leonardo said with a giddy smile, clapping his hands together.

"We're here for your machine," Ezio started, looking around the room. "The flying machine. Does it work?"

"The machine?" The question had been phrased as if the artist had no clue what it was. Then Leonardo shook his head. "I...I don't know. It's merely a prototype—an idea. It wouldn't be ready to fly, anyway."

"Have you tested it out?" Ezio walked over to the large structure in the corner of the room, covered with a thin cloth.

"No!" Leonardo rushed after Ezio, taking a hold of his shoulder. "Only a mad-man would test it! You would fall from the sky!"

Laughing, Ezio pulled off the cloth from the giant contraption. "I'm your mad-man," Ezio said in a smug tone. "This is our ticket into the Ducale."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Leonardo sighed. "The young are always far too eager to take dire chances." Then he sniffed, rubbing at his nose. "Well, if we're going to do this, we need to get it up on a roof."

Antonio and I threw each other wide grins, and we rushed forward, helping Ezio pick up the machine and squeeze it through the door without damaging anything. The hard part was getting it up onto the roofs—a push-pull sort of method that wore me right out. Finally, after about thirty minutes to an hour of wrestling with the contraption, we were up on the roof of the studio, over looking the giant maze of a city. I took a moment then, as the men settled and prepared the machine, to look out over the city. It seemed to stretch out for miles, lines of the canals weaving through the buildings. I didn't understand why a city so beautiful had to have so much corruption and hatred within it's streets. None of it was very fair, although I was learning quickly that nothing was rarely ever fair.

Turning, I watched as Leonardo was harnessing Ezio into the machine, the assassin not looking very intimidated for the plight he was about to go through. Leonardo was going through the workings of the contraption, explaining his theory behind how birds fly and how he was sure the machine could convey the same motions for humans.

Antonio came and stood by me, giving me a wide eyed look as he glanced down at me. I smiled, knowing that it was indeed an insane idea, but Ezio was the best at those types of ideas. He had made it through worse, that was for sure.

Finally, once he was all strapped into the intimidating machine, he hefted the weight about before he took a running leap off of the roof. My heart shoved up into my throat as I suddenly realized that Ezio could possibly die. And in a moment of pure terror and awe, Ezio was gliding through the air, a giant, white bird in the sky. Leonardo was gaping like a fish out of water, Antonio and I dumbstruck. Ezio was actually flying!

Then, in a suddenly jerk of the machine, Ezio nosedived and crashed into a rooftop not too far away. There was a short moment of intense silence as we stared at the crash, and only when we saw Ezio clawing his way out of the machine, cursing and grumbling, did I burst up laughing, more from the hysteria than the actual humor of the situation. Antonio was a few steps ahead of Leonardo and I, and by the time I was able to help the artist to the other roof, he was helping the assassin up out of the damage."You-you _flew,_ Ezio!" Leonardo breathed, the clear elation bright on his face. "You actually flew!"

"Not very far!" Ezio snapped, brushing himself off.

"Well, it was never made for distance," Leonardo admitted with a shy grin.

"Then it won't do us any good," Antonio pointed out. "We need it to soar into the Ducale—this small flight will not work."

"Hmm." Leonardo rubbed his chin. "Help me haul it back into the shop, and I'll see what I can do."

The machine had taken a lot of damage from the crash, but Leonardo seemed optimistic enough that I figured it was nothing he couldn't fix. With much grunt and grievance, we finally managed to drag the flying contraption back into the workshop, where Leonardo immediately started to fix the damages. Ezio, Antonio and I sat at the small work table quietly discussing what the plan was once Ezio was inside of the building. I fell in and out of the conversation, finding myself more interested in what Leonardo was doing with the machine. The artist was pacing his workshop, scratching at his chin in the most furious manner, scribbling on scrolls, walking back to the machine. Leonardo was such an efficient worker that watching him just made me smile.

* * *

After about an hour passed, Leonardo suddenly exalted a swear, angrily crumpling a paper in his hands. "This will never work!" Leonardo cried when we all turned to look at him. "None of these modifications will make the machine fly over the entire city. This was a crazy idea in the first place!" With an aggressive throw, the crumpled paper was flung into the hearth, the orange and red flames licking at the fragile material. Standing from the table, I made a move towards the artist, not wanting him to take the failure too personally. Man was never meant to fly, else he would have spread wings long ago. That wasn't Leonardo's fault.

Before I could reach him, he suddenly gasped and whipped around again, going back to the machine. "Yes!" He exalted. "That is it! Fire is the key!"

"Fire?" Ezio and I shot each other a look. "How does fire help?"

"Heat rises, my friends," Leonardo explained, going back to his diagrams as he furiously wrote something down. "If we had fires to propel you, you _would_ be able to make it into the Ducale!"

"Venice is surrounded by water," I reminded him, "not fire. Where would we get this heat?"

Antonio snapped his fingers, a grin blanching on his face. "If we had fires spread out along the city, it wouldn't be a problem. This is something that my men will be able to do."

"All I would have to do," Ezio mused, rubbing his chin, "is glide from fire to fire. _Si_...this could very well work!"

"Then we shall get this started before the day ends! Leonardo will stay here and finish the contraption." Antonio shot me a look. "Narina, come with me to gather my men and position them throughout the city to the Ducale. Ezio, you should scout the rooftops and clear a path for yourself lest you are shot down with arrows."

Ezio nodded. "Sounds like a great plan." We gave each other good lucks, and then we left the workshop, my adrenaline pumping and my mouth twisted into a smile. Antonio and I were nearly running through the crowds as we made our way back to Seta. The master thief called for all of his men to gather in the courtyard, and told me to look around the base to find any others that were not inside.

As I scouted around the building, finding and telling many men to go back to the base for an important meeting, I realized that the sun was going down, that we didn't have much time. Running around the last corner I was going to check, I saw a handful of thieves sitting around on crates, talking and laughing. When I approached them and told them that Antonio needed to see them, I glanced down the street to see two more figures, and I opened my mouth to call out to them.

Then I stopped, and shut my mouth again. It was Rosa and Ugo, sitting by themselves. It wasn't unlike how the others were sitting by each other, just like they were two guys hanging around and talking. I suddenly didn't feel right about dragging them into the battle, though, like they needed to be lost in the words that they were saying to each other. It wasn't such a strange idea that they were good friends—I think Ugo had told me that he and Rosa had joined the guild around the same time. Two missing thieves for this operation wouldn't be too bad, right? I glanced back over my shoulder, then back to them, who seemed to be arguing over something. Then I turned and made my way back to the Seta, convincing myself the entire way back that what thieves we already had was certainly enough.

Finally, darkness was falling. The men had all been told of what the plan was, and with a short pep talk, they ran to their designated areas with arms full of kindling and broken pieces of wood. Venice was going to glow tonight.

"Let's go see Ezio off," I suggested to Antonio as the last of his men disappeared. "I can imagine that they are starting on top of Leonardo's shop again."

With a brief nod, he led me back through the city, and before I knew it, we were climbing up onto Leonardo's shop, high above the city. When we clawed our way up to the roof, sure enough, the machine was back up there with Ezio being strapped in by an extremely excited Leonardo.

His eyes shot up to us, matched with a toothy grin. "I was afraid that neither of you would make it in time!"

"I would never miss Ezio learning to fly," Antonio pointed out with a chuckle. "My men are all positioned, and the fires will soon be started. Let's just hope this plan of ours works."

"It will," Leonardo responded with a broad grin. "There we are. You are all set to go, Ezio. Now we wait for the flames."

I took that moment to approach the white hooded man, staring up at him as I slowly shook my head. "You're really going to fly this thing across a city, aren't you?"

"Guess so," he replied with a half smile.

"Well, be careful." I reached out and pushed my fist into his chest. "And if you die, I'll be very upset."

"I'm not going to die," he murmured, reaching up and catching my hand in his. He lifted it and pressed his lips to the back of my hand, almost as if we were about to start some sort of dance. Then his golden gaze landed on me as he pulled me forward, pressing that scarred mouth of his to my brow before he took my mouth with his. It felt almost as if he were saying goodbye, and I didn't like it.

"They're being lit!" Antonio's exclamation made me tear away from my assassin, looking over the darkened city that looked like a bunch of dark, black silhouettes. Sure enough, a small glow appeared not too far away, and then there was another. And another. Soon, there was a whole line of fire blazing up in the streets, sending bright sparks up into the sky. It was breathtaking, like a few stars had decided to settle down into the city for the night.

"This is it, Ezio," Leonardo said, appearing next to me. Ezio nodded, dropping my hand after a small squeeze. I stared at him, suddenly so unsure. I didn't want him to die. I didn't want him to be so stupid sometimes. Leonardo put an arm around me, guiding me backwards as Ezio hoisted up the machine to settle with the weight. The goodbye bubbled up in my throat, but I dared not say it. Without even a second glance, Ezio took a deep breath and ran off of the roof, gliding through the air. Antonio, Leonardo and I all watched in awe as the assassin soared through the air, looking like a giant bat over the city. When he passed over a fire, his altitude did increase and allowed him to glide even further. This was actually going to work, wasn't it?

We three stood there, watching as the figure got smaller and smaller, hovering over flames, gaining more and more flight, until, finally, it dipped down into the fenced off roof of the Ducale. He had actually gotten in. A breath that I hadn't realized I held seeped through my lips, but my body was still tense. The building that Ezio was all alone in was the heaviest guarded building in the entire city. There were limitations on his skill. I suddenly wished that I had gone with him, that I, too, had been strapped to that flying, death machine.

It wasn't until Antonio gripped my shoulder that my gaze was torn away from the building. The thief said nothing—just gave me a quick gesture to follow him. Even after we had helped Leonardo down off of the building, none of us had said a word. The reality of the situation seeped upon me, that Ezio may very well be dead at that moment. Leonardo broke the silence by offering us something to eat, a meal long forgotten in the rush of the day. Just the mention of food made me feel nauseated, and Antonio declined the offer quietly.

"I think it's best I head back to the base," he admitted. "Meet with my men there, give them praise for a job well done." He turned to me. "You are welcome to come with me and wait for Ezio at the Seta if you wish."

I nodded eagerly. With quiet goodbyes and thank yous, Antonio and I left the workshop, heading down into the darkened streets. Our footsteps were hauntingly loud, echoing off of the buildings back at us. All my words seemed to clog up in my throat, my tongue unable to process the words as if they were in some sort of foreign language. Antonio stayed silent as well, his dark eyes trained on the path we traveled. Venice had gotten cold, the night air bidding us no favors as we stalked across the stone street, the pebbles scraping loudly against our boots. The moon was playing behind the darkening clouds in the sky, only tidbits of light peeping through. It was going to rain soon, the fresh yet foreboding scent on the air.

Finally, I tilted my chin up. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Antonio waved a nonchalant hand in my direction. "You worry far too much."

"Do you blame me?" I retorted. "That man is a walking lure for trouble!"

"Just trust in him," Antonio suggested, "and maybe then you won't feel so insecure. It's not such a foreign concept, yes? He's a strong man."

Despite his calm words, I could see that Antonio was worried as well. I knew Ezio couldn't keep clear of trouble. In the wake of the path he walked was more blood than footsteps. I closed my eyes at that realization. Shaking my head, I pressed the matter back for another day—when I knew things were going to be alright and I knew Ezio would be okay.

There was a sudden shift in the air, like our words were hanging heavy over our heads. I slowed to a stop, but Antonio seemed oblivious to it all. When he took a few steps ahead, I called to him. "Antonio." He stopped, but never made it to turn around. To our right, a dark blob dropped from the rooftops, landing in a eery silence that sent shivers through me. Then the blob stood, standing tall, hauntingly erect and dark. Before Antonio could turn to look at me, I lunged forward, grabbing onto his arm and dragging down the street. I momentarily ignored his questions, focusing on getting away from that shadow lurking after us. When was this madness going to stop? When would I figure out why I was being pursued?

Our initial path had been forgotten as I dragged the stumbling, confused thief behind me, turning him down a narrow path that was snaking between two buildings. Like we were trapped in a maze, we darted around corners blindly, my heart rate growing more rapid with each step that I took. I knew that I wasn't going to get away. I knew that I was never going to be able to hide from them. They would always find me. The realization made me choke back the fear that had knotted in my throat.

We turned one last corner, the light from the candle-lit plaza peering down the dark alley. Before my hopes could be inflated, I stopped dead in my tracks, Antonio smashing into the back of me as a string of curses flowed from his mouth. Then he, too, stopped, his body stiffening as he straightened behind me. Both of us stared at the silhouette seemingly waiting for us at the mouth of the path. I quickly threw a look over my shoulder, my breath hitching as I saw the shadow we had been running from was approaching us from behind.

Antonio's hand went to the sword hilt at his hip. "Who are these men?"

"I...I don't know," I answered quietly as if I were afraid that the men would hear my words, my breaths falling harsh and rapid. With a glance over my shoulder, I saw that our pursuer had stopped, his bearded chin peeping out of the dark hood on his head, his eyes nothing but dark shadows.

"No friends of yours, I see." I looked back forward, the man blocking our path pulling out a sword that had been hidden by the waves of his robes. As I gripped Antonio's arm, he took a step forward, waving a hand in the air. "Gentlemen, please. There is no excuse for such brutality." At his words, another sliding blade sounded out behind us, and with a quick glance back, I saw another flash of another blade. We were trapped.

"You do not wish to listen to me?" Antonio hummed in amusement, brushing me aside and stepping forward. With a long pull, he unsheathed his sword, the metal gleaming even in the dim light. His left hand went to his hip where he pulled out a long dagger. With a strange sort of finesse, he twirled the blades in his hold before he put himself in a fighting stance, feet spread apart. "Then let's dance," he muttered, his face suddenly darkening, turning into a man that I did not know.

Steadying myself, I reached for my own sword, holding it gingerly in front of me as I turned to the man behind us, placing myself much like Antonio. I heard his feet scuffle against the ground, his growl as he lunged at our enemy. Taking the energy from Antonio's attack, I let a grimace grace my face before I too lunged at my target, swinging my sword as it whistled through the air. The hooded man dodged the attack easily, taking a step back. But his weapon stayed lowered, his dark eyes peering down at me speculatively. Swinging again, I followed after his retreat, letting my fear turn into anger through my swings. However, the man simply continued to take retreating steps, showing no sign of actually fighting back. It was a strange action, but it also made me realize that I was no swordsman, or even a fighter. Even when I tried to throw in a surprise move, he simply knew what I was about and would continued to dodge the attack. Not to mention every swing held too much power, and soon I was panting like a dog, my energy sapped away.

I took a moment to glance back over my shoulder to Antonio, wondering if he, too, was having troubles fighting these strange foes. Shockingly, Antonio's fight was a lot more lively than mine. No fair—his enemy was actually fighting back! In the brief glance, I was surprised by Antonio's fighting techniques, something different than what Ezio and I had been taught. I had never seen someone fight with dual blades before, and Antonio did make it seem like a literal dance. But his foe wasn't about to be bested, and I could see that Antonio was struggling to keep up with the cloaked figure.

My brief glance turned into a gaze. From the corner of my eye, I saw my opponent move, and I instinctively jumped back, barely dodging his hands that had reached out to seize me, his sword sheathed. Rebounding off of my retreat, I swung back my sword, preparing to give the man just a taste of how sharp my blade was. Even if he saw that there was no way he could elude my attack this time, he didn't seem very scared. Almost as if he were welcoming it, even. The calmness threw me off, so when my ankles were suddenly pulled together, I screamed out as I face-planted into the street, my sword skittering across the stone and out of my reach. As I quickly sat, I gazed down at my feet and saw that a thick rope with two balls weighted at the ends was wrapped around my ankles tightly.

I knew that it was coming, but I still didn't know what to do. When I felt the hand gripping at my arm, I tried to swing my fist at the cloaked figure, but to no avail. My hand was caught in his rather large hand. Roughly twisted around, my arm being pulled painfully up my back, I found myself bound by more rope and slung over a man's shoulder.

Screaming out curses, I tried to kick myself free, but all words were shoved in my throat when I saw Antonio on the ground, surrounded now by three figures, a blade pressed to his neck, his shaky hand pressed into his bloody side. Fear gripped my heart, constricting in my chest so I couldn't breathe. "Don't!" I cried out, thrashing against the man who held me. "Leave him be!"

Just like they multiplied from the shadows, a figure appeared next to me, forcing a wad of cloth into my mouth as he tied another cloth around my mouth and jaw, making it so I couldn't talk. They ignored me, and the blade was raised, aiming for the killing slice. Tears poured down my face as I watched Antonio close his eyes, accepting his fate. Squirming, I shrieked against the cloth in my mouth. Antonio had nothing to do with them or whatever it was they wanted.

Then the men stopped, all of their heads turning to the mouth of the alleyway like an unheard voice had called to them. I glanced up as well, staring up at a tall figure, dark hood lowered. His eyes were a faded color of blue, just as cold as any ice. The smile he wore was ironic, his dark hair pulled back and tied at a low pony-tail. He was staring at me as if I should recognize him, like he was a long lost friend, but even if he seemed familiar, I couldn't think of a name. All eyes were on him as he studied me, and for a brief moment, the smile faded, falling softly, before it widened out into a grin. "To the docks," he ordered, waving a hand in the air. With that movement of his hand, the men all dressed in dark, heavy robes around me flowed with that gesture, and they were filing out of the alleyway.

_ To the docks. Why the docks?_

As I swayed back and forth over the man's shoulder, mumbling against the cloth shoved so uncomfortably in my mouth, I locked eyes with the bleeding Antonio, his dark eyes wide on me, my name on his lips. He tried to push himself up off of the building he was leaning against, blood spotting on the ground. Wriggling about, I told him in muffled and incomprehensible words that he needed to stay put. At the movement, I was pulled back over the man's shoulder, held out in front of him as if I were suddenly ailed with some terrible stench. It was then that I took a moment to stare up into those cold eyes up close, seeing that they were actually a darker green, filled with harshness, but it was strange to notice that there was some sort of hidden glimmer there. I began to wonder how he had been dragged into the entire mess.

Then a sharp pain bolted through me, something smacking harshly into the back of my head. I managed to hold on long enough to stumble a bit, trying to focus my scattered brain, the ringing in my ears. But it was of no use, the darkness edging my sight growing more and more dominate. I had spent so much time running from those dark robes, but in that moment, I fell to them.

Everything melded into the darkness that was suddenly surrounding me.

* * *

**So I realize that this chapter was not up to par. Sorry about that. Things have been rough, as I said before. But, like I said, I wanted to make this out before the Holidays! :3**

**Things are going to get good soon though! I'm really excited to branch more out into Narina's story. The sad thing is that in order to do that, a lot of romance is going to be sacrificed...but I think it'll be worth it. Besides, if you really want romancy, gushy stuff, you can always go back to the original! (But if any of you are ever having withdrawals, I'll be more than happy to write any of you a small little tid-bit. Kinda like "behind the scenes" stuff.)**

**Don't forget to check me out on tumblr and DeviantArt! :3 You are all darlings!**

**Thanks for the support!**

**Review!**


	18. Trapped

**Whoa! Another chapter? Blasphemy!**

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* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Trapped**

* * *

I came in and out of consciousness. The smell of sand and dirt filled my senses, the only thing that I could grip onto between the small flashes of Venice I managed to see. Dark alley ways, the robes of the men, the docks, a boat...I couldn't focus onto anything else, my mind spinning in a never-ending spiral.

It only seemed like a simple moment later when a sudden lurch made everything settle. Jerking awake, I peered around the dark room that I was in. It was a small room, the bed I was upon tucked away in the corner. Something was in my mouth, making it hard to breathe—the cloth, I realized, wadded up on my tongue. When I tried to sit up, I realized that I was still bound, and my body felt so heavy that I couldn't push myself up. Huffing, I looked up to the ceiling of the small cabin. There was loud creaking, a slow rock. I recognized the feeling as being on a boat. At the realization, I began to wonder just where I was. Sure, I was on a boat, but on a boat where? Judging by the constant rocking, we were sailing. Where was I being taken? How long had I been out? My mind was racing with questions. Had Ezio successfully finished the mission? Did he know that I was gone? Was Antonio alright?

As the questions continued to come up, my attention was drawn to the door, something rattling it. With a click, it creaked open. My eyes were pinned on the dark figure standing in the threshold, my heart thumping loudly.

"Ah. I see you're awake." The shadow crossed the small area. With each step he took to my bed, my chest constricted and I felt the need to roll away. He sat at the edge of the bed, looking over his shoulder at me. His icy blue eyes seemed to glow even in the lack of light, and his smile was sickeningly sweet. "Did you have a nice nap?"

A growl managed to seep through the cloth in my mouth, my jaw trying to clench.

"Oh, a little testy, I see." He chuckled under his breath, the sound making a shiver run up my spine. "I have the most wonderful compromise for you, if you're willing to listen, my dear Narina."

I didn't really have another choice than to listen to him, so I simply stared up at him, not wanting to give into him, but I realized that I was in no position to fight against him. Especially if we were on a boat. When I didn't give a response back, he leaned over, putting his face near mine so that his breath was brushing against my face. When I tried to avoid his eyes, he would move his head so that I had to look into the icy depths. Finally, when he held my gaze, he smiled widely again. "Listen to me, Narina. I'm going to untie you. But if you so much as try to cry for help or make an escape, I will not hesitate to kill every single person on this boat. I know how to sail." With an unchanging expression, although fear bolted through me, I stared at the man, trying to seem brave, though I don't think I was making a very good facade. If I did one thing wrong, the many people on the boat would be killed.

With no response, he sat up straight, his smile gone. "So keep in mind that you are holding the lives of twenty-seven people in your tiny hands, little girl." With that, he reached to his belt and pulled out a dagger, the blade flashing in the light coming through the door. It only took one tug for the rope to be cut, my hands freed. As he cut the ropes at my ankles, I reached up and yanked the cloth from around my head, pulling out the wad of cloth in my mouth.

"Who are you?" I asked as soon as I could, my mouth dry and funny tasting.

He frowned, a much more fitting expression for him. "Ah, you don't remember?"

My eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

Waving a hand as if I were a fly, he stood from the bed, picking up the split rope. "I suppose introductions are due after such a long time. You may remember the name Lucio. Lucio Carlieas."

I racked through my mind, and it hit me all in one moment. "You!" I spat, scooting away across the bed. "I should have known you were with the Templars back when I met you!"

Laughing, Lucio walked across the room. "Charmed that you remember, Narina, but I am no Templar. They are shady little bastards, though, aren't they?"

I pressed up against the wall, wanting to get as far away as possible from the man. "If you're not a Templar, than what are you?"

He reached up, rubbing his chin as if he were hiding his smile. "I'm human. Is that really such a foreign concept for you? Anyway," he made a move towards the door, "you're free to roam the boat, but remember that if you even breath a word that you are being held captive, everyone but you and I will die." Swallowing back fear that had sat on the back of my tongue, I glanced away from him. "When you're up on deck, someone will always be watching you, so don't plan on jumping ship. And we managed to get out on the sea within the hour." He smirked, hand on the door handle. "So don't expect a heroic rescue from your assassin. I'll see you later, Narina."

The door latched closed behind him. I sat in the dark, staring at nothing. He was right. Ezio had been busy with his mission when I had been taken. There was no way that he could catch up to help me. I was in it by myself. Feeling hopeless and lost, I stayed inside the cabin, listening to the creak of the boat, feeling the rock of the waves.

I was trapped.

* * *

Only a few hours of sleep came to me that night. I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep, but I woke up seemingly minutes later. I laid in the cot, staring up at the ceiling of the small cabin. I had hoped that I would wake up and find it all some horrifying dream, that I had fallen asleep at Leonardo's shop and had a nightmare. But no. It was real, and I was still in one hell of a mess. Sitting up, I rubbed at my head, letting out a huge sigh. I needed to escape, but there was no way to do so. I couldn't swim, so being on a boat was quite convenient for my captors. Trying to resist them would cause many many deaths. I would have to wait until my two feet were on land to form any solid plans. So I had to figure out where I was going while I was at sea.

It took some willpower to walk out of my room, the fear of taking one wrong step and having a handful of innocent people killed. Outside of the room was the hollowed out bottom of the ship, a total of five other compartments for other cabins. It was a lot different than the boat Ezio and I had rode from Flori. Not made for many passengers. Taking a few steps out into the lower deck, I was suddenly thrown to the side, the boat rocking harshly. With much noise, I crashed into a pile of nearby crates, breaking one and bouncing off of another, rolling to the wooden floor.

"Ow." I thought about laying there, waiting until the boat would stop rocking, but I knew that I had to figure out what was going on. Lucio had said that he would be around watching me, right? Just thinking the name made my face twist up in disgust. I should have known something was sketchy with that man, even with the innocent facade. It made sense how when I had left his house, the hooded men had attacked me. Of course he was in alliance with them. As I managed to clamor up to my feet, using the wall for support, footsteps echoed down from the steps across the area, cutting through the moaning and groaning of the boat. Quickly glancing up, I made eye contact with a short, stubby man, his eyes dark and hard.

He only grunted, turning and climbing back up on deck, a rush of the sea breeze flowing through the ship's hull. With a short glance to the pile of wood from the broken crate, I wobbly made my way across the room, climbing up the stairs on all fours to keep a sturdier movement.

The air was cold as I popped up on deck, breathing in the sea and the fog. It was dawn, the sun just barely peeping up over the eastern horizon. Stepping up, I felt my balance go all to hell again as the boat slowly rocked back to it's other side. With much force, I pulled myself to the edge of the boat, gripping onto the sturdy wood and leaning into its support. I stared down the side of the ship, down to the rush of the water flowing from under the boat, the spray splattering against the wake of our passage. What _if_ I jumped? Surely, people could swim when everything depended on it. I glanced over my shoulder.

No.

No, it wouldn't work. I saw what Lucio had meant in the simple glance. It wasn't direct, but I noticed the two men standing across on the other side of the boat, their eyes turned away, but their body directed towards me. Watching me. Studying my every move nonchalantly. Looking back across the sea, I saw that the nearest coast was well over three miles away. There was no way I could swim that far, even _if_ I knew how.

"Quite a tempting offer, is it not?"

I wasn't surprised by the voice externally, but inside, my heart nearly stopped. I slowly turned and looked at the tall, thin man, leaning against the edge, smile pointed to the sky. Without saying anything, I dipped my head back down, and folded my hands together.

"Finally decided you didn't like the cabin, I see."

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, ignoring his comments. "And more importantly, why me?"

His brow furrowed, a smirk gracing his face. "Don't flatter yourself. You are not the only one."

"Then why me?" I demanded, facing him. "Why don't you go after the others, then? Why can't I just live in normalcy?"

"There is no such thing as this facade you call 'normalcy,'" he answered, smile disappearing. "Especially for you."

A long moment passed where we stared at each other, his icy blue eyes burning into my soul. "You're not going to tell me."

"Of course not." He took a step away.

"Then at least tell me where you are taking me on this boat. Is it just the crew and your men on here?"

"No." His hand gestured to a couple of men towards the stern of the boat. "Those two are considered passengers as well. There is a studious man who stays in his cabin all day, and then," his hand pointed a little more right, "there's that man, who vomits everything he eats over the edge of the boat. Quite unfortunate, honestly."

"How many of your men are on here then?"

"Why?" He stepped around me, hands folded behind his back. "Are you planning a revolt? I'll tell you now, Narina, that all the skills you have learned are useless. I have specialized in countering your little style the Assassin's have taught you."

My eyes narrowed. "And you're not a Templar?"

"Certainly not." A small smile. "That saying that 'the enemy of your enemy is your friend' is a lie. Know that everyone is looking out for themselves. A valuable lesson to learn."

"So you're against the Templars, too, then?"

"In a sense. We're in more of a race, honestly. It's quite challenging, but we've managed to lead them down the wrong path after all these years."

"Great." The boat rocked, making my hands dart out for the side of the boat to steady myself. "So we're going where?"

"Ortona."

I ran the name through my mind. "Where is that?"

"In the southern part of Italy. A wondrous port town—I hear the King of Sicily ordered a castle to be built there after Venetian fleets destroyed most of the port. What a sight that'll be."

A frown marred my face. "Why are we going there?"

"It's not our destination, just a mere stop. You'll figure out where we're going much later." He held up a hand as if to stop me from talking. "If you'll excuse me." He twisted away and descended down below deck, my eyes locked onto his vanishing point. How far away was this Ortona? Why southern Italy? I tried to piece it all together, but nothing made any sense. I considered asking the other passengers if they knew the time span to this port city, but the sudden loud heave of the vomiting man made me reconsider. I would just wait it out. And I would plot. I had to get away somehow.

But some food was a concern as well, my stomach twisting unpleasantly as it growled. I wandered back down below the deck, knowing that there had to be a cook somewhere on the boat. As I stepped down on the floor, I spotted Lucio in the corner talking with one of his burly men. I barely heard the words, but it was in a fast language that I did not understand. It was strangely familiar somehow, but I couldn't decipher a word. The icy gaze landed on me, watching me, and I quickly turned to explore the rest of the hull. Food first. Escape would have to come later.

* * *

I wasn't sure how far away Ortona was. Days flew by on the sea breeze, that far away coast of Italy simply following along with us. Neither Lucio or his men had been around, although I knew they were still somehow watching me. When I was sick of being in my cabin, I would wander up on deck. The crew for the ship was rather rough if I ever ran into any of them, only grunting at me and pushing me out of their way. I supposed that manners were the last thing on their minds.

One day I tried talking to the other two men on the boat, but they disregarded me, ignoring all my questions as if I were some diseased animal. I never saw the scholar man aside from the one time he ate at the same time I did. He looked of high blood, his clothes fine and decorated. I didn't even try speaking with him—he seemed too wrapped up in his own world to even notice me. That left the man who would still heave up over the edge of the boat every day, all day. It was out of the question to even talk with him, but I felt bad one day when he was miserably collapsed against the edge, so I fetched a mug of ale from below deck (it was the only thing to drink on the trip) and set it on the edge next to him. He didn't look at me, but grabbed it and held it between his hands, his head turned down. Seeing that he was in no mood to talk, I slowly stepped back before I swooped down below deck. To sum it up, trying to be social didn't go very well for me.

* * *

A storm hit another day, and the captain of the boat ordered for the vessel to be brought closer to the land to avoid the rains. And just like that, I saw an opportunity blossoming. The coast was a swimmable distance away. If I could manage to get that far, I would be free. I would make my way back to Monteriggioni. It had been so many days that I wondered if Ezio was out there looking for me. Or was he riding along that coast with his eye on the boat? I sighed, knowing that was impossible. Antonio had been in such bad shape—no one had been around to help us. A sickening feeling came with the realization that the young man was as good as dead. Dead trying to protect me. My hands dropped from the side of the boat, my eyes locked on the coastline. Even if I made it without them diving in after me, I can imagine they would kill everyone on the boat anyway. I couldn't have that. As much as I wanted freedom, I wasn't going to risk these people's lives.

Looking to my right, I spotted Lucio climbing up from the deck, wearing some strange cloak over extremely fine clothes. I turned away, not feeling like talking to him. I had constructed a plan over the past days on how to escape once we were in Ortona. At the first opening, I was going to run for it, running in zigzags to try and lose them for a while. Long enough to get some help.

He stepped next to me, hands folded at his lower back. "We land this evening." His icy eyes were on me, his long hair pulled back into it's normal ponytail.

I kept my eyes on the land, my escape plans running through my head. "And then where do we go?"

"After we rest in Ortona, we'll head south to another port town called Brindisi."

"Why not ride over to there then? Seems a little silly."

"Because Brindisi is under Spanish rule at the moment. Venetian ships are discouraged to ride there. It will be safer for us to enter there on foot."

"Another boat ride, then?"

He smiled, but didn't say anything else on the subject. "I heard the Captain say that there might be a bad storm. You should go below deck." I kept my gaze away from him. "Or stay out here and get sick. Your choice." With that, he turned and walked back down the stairs to the lower deck. Sighing, I followed after him, not wanting to get caught in the unforgiving rain and sea spray. Dealing with the rocking below deck was bad enough.

It wasn't anything to worry about; the storm was light and the crew and captain handled it well. If we were to land in Ortona that night, I wished that I had a changed of clothes. Wearing the same tunic and breeches all day every day for a full week didn't exactly go over very well. I was smelly, dirty, and in need of a good bath. I would never take a hot tub or clean clothes for granted ever again. Sitting on my bed, I listened to the creak of the boat, the whistling of the storm above. Only a few more hours and my escape would begin to unfold.

* * *

Once the boat had docked, the rains had hit the coast. Lucio and his men came and gathered me, one of them holding me roughly by my elbow as they dragged me down the loading ramp. The sun had gone down, although I wouldn't have been able to tell from a glance in the sky, gray clouds blotting out the blue. But the lands grew darker and darker, the shadows swallowing everything.

As I gazed out over the city, the unknown area, my hopes began to dwindle. The horizon stretched before me was near flat, only a loll of a single, wimpy hill breaking the line. If I ran and actually got away, they could just see me running across the field. How far south were we? The whole escape plan was going to be a lot more difficult than I had first thought.

Or maybe it didn't have to be. Perhaps I was looking at the whole situation wrong. I didn't necessarily have to run away—all that needed to be done was for me to be hidden. Lucio led his five man group, me positioned in the midst of it all, into the heart of the small port town, perhaps about the size of Monteriggioni. The other passengers from the boat had been behind us, but they soon melted off into the crowd, going about their business. Did anything find any suspicion in a young girl being taken by big, burly men? I realized then that, from others eyes, it must have seemed like they were actually _protecting_ me. I hated how things worked out like that.

Lucio spoke to the men in the strange language, leaving me in the dark, being bumped and prodded in the circle of men. My eyes were roaming over the streets, trying to find the perfect route to lose my captors. I wasn't entirely sure what I would do once I got away, but I figured I could work that out once that time came.

There was a sudden commotion which drew our whole group's attention down the street. There, a bunch of men were throwing fists with each other, screaming out horrifying names and giving quite obscene gestures to each other. I wasn't sure if they were drunk or fighting or both.

"Look at that," muttered one of the men standing next to me, making me stare up at him in shock. For some reason, I thought none of them could speak Italian. "Bloody idiots, the whole lot of them."

I vaguely heard the guards cry out as they tried to stop the fight, but I held onto a much more important factor. Lucio and his men were distracted.

I didn't want to give it time for reconsideration. With a suddenly jerk, I broke free from the man who was holding my arm, and I darted into the shadows of the buildings, weaving into the alleyways. My heart was driving loudly with adrenaline, my breaths already shallow and heavy. I knew they were following me, so I bade myself not to look back, just to keep looking forward at the tiny shimmer of hope, the only thing I could depend on. As I weaved through the small paths, hoping to lose them, I learned the alleyways were a favorite of drunkards. I nearly tripped over several, and even more tried to get me to stop. I was lucky enough to have enough combat training to easily maneuver away from them, but I couldn't help but feel as though I were a helpless little girl. I was fighting a battle that couldn't be won. And yet I still had to try. I wasn't going to lay down and accept it. No, I would fight until I couldn't anymore.

Many corners were taken, my path a jumbled mess among the alleyways. But even then, I shouldn't have been surprised when, at the mouth of an alleyway, my freedom, stood one of the men, shoulders straight, arms folded. Skidding to a halt, I glanced back over my shoulder to see if I had time to escape down another route. But no, they were already behind me too. Breathing hard, I glanced back forward, up and around. I could try to climb the building, but they would catch me before I could even start. My eyes landed on a window, lit up with some source from the inside.

Grasping the opportunity, I lower my head and shoulder, used a short burst of energy, and sent myself through the window, glass shattering everywhere. Only aware of a few cuts, I scrambled from the floor, slicing my hands open of a few shards. I glanced up, catching a wide, terrified gaze of a small woman, pressing up back against the wall. Pouring all of my apologies in a glance, I stumbled through the room, clenching my hands to try and stop the pain. Even when I saw the front door, the glimmer of hope was gone. I had cornered myself.

I heard the crunching of the glass under their boots behind me, and before I could look back at them, the front door was kicked in, an actually peeved Lucio standing in the threshold. Looking over my shoulder and seeing that they were surrounding me again, I too pressed against the wall. The woman had sank to her knees, covering her face as if to protect herself.

"Seize her," Lucio snapped, striding forward.

When they reached out to grab me, I tried to dodge from their hands, still trying to play the lie that I could get away. But their large hands took hold of my arms, very roughly and gruff. They had me. There was no use in fighting now. Not until another window of opportunity reared.

"Tie her up," the leader ordered, throwing a coil of rope at his lackeys. "And make sure she doesn't bolt again. We don't need any of this nonsense." The rope was wrapped around my wrists, bounding me useless. I kept my narrowed gaze on Lucio, trying to push all of my disgust into that simple glare. He must have found it amusing, for a smile branched out on his lips, and the anger seemed to melt from his eyes. "Silly, silly Narina," he hummed, walking right by me as he shook his head. I was surprised to see him approach the woman collapsed on the ground. It was disgusting the way he held out a helping hand to her, the way he seemed so genuine. "I apologize for this woman breaking into your home. Come."

I nearly cried out for her not to trust him, but I figured it wouldn't help anyway. So I watched as she shakily took his hand, and he pulled her up in a swift movement. She couldn't have been older than I was, perhaps even sixteen or seventeen. "I'm sorry that all of this has occurred. I truly am."

Seeing the flash of the blade too late, all I could do is let out a gurgled mess of words before Lucio shoved the dagger into her stomach. She still made no sound, her wide, dark eyes pinned on the handle of the blade before she slowly gazed up, looking into Lucio's chilling gaze. Bewildered. Confused. And scared. And he just smiled back at her like he had done her the kindest favor. Her knees buckled when Lucio pulled the blade out, and then she fell, laying face down as death wrapped around her.

My own knees were suddenly weak, my brain rushing, my heart beating. Anger took a hold of my instability, and I thrashed against the men. "_You sick, twisted son of a bitch_!" I screamed, needing it more than ever to strangle the man in front of me. "She was innocent, you bastard!"

He had knelt down, using the pretty green material of the girl's dress to clean his dagger. He threw me a calm glance. "Tell me, Narina, how someone is innocent. It is something that cannot be achieved."

"I'll kill you!" I spat, still fighting against the men holding me back. The room was alive with energy, my body quivering. I needed to slit this man's throat, watch his blood pour in rivers.

"So naïve." Lucio sighed like he had been taking care of a child all day, sliding the blade back into it's sheath at his hip. "We'll head out now. Camp will be taken on the side of the road thanks to Narina and her brave little act." He walked by, heading to the front door. "Consider how warm of a bed we could have had for the night if she hadn't decided she would rather defy me." He stopped, grinning over his shoulder at me. "And consider how wonderful a life that woman would have lived."

The anger was shoved away like a hot brand, and a sickening feeling dropped heavy inside me.

It _was_ my fault.

My body went numb as they led me out of the house and down the alleyways. I wasn't sure where they were taking me, my mind's eyes full of imagining what that woman could have accomplished in her life. What a beautiful family she would have had. How the family she did have would find her dead in her own home where she was supposed to be safe.

A strange breath fell from my lips. I felt as though I were about to vomit. "Do you see what happens when you act so rash, Narina?" I looked up at the back of his head, leading us out of the city and to the stables down the road a bit. "I warned you of such things, did I not? If only you had listened."

My gaze fell. On the road, there were no innocents to kill, no other option for him to torture me with. The man wasn't crazy, but driven to get whatever it was he was hunting for. I didn't know how I was involved in it all, but it needed to end. I shoved away all of my feelings, focusing on the anger deep inside. I would have to rely on the unstable emotion to get through this whole ordeal. I needed to be in it for myself so that I could one day end it altogether.

Lucio stopped by the stable barn and asked to buy a few horses. As they were being saddled up, I was untied, but one held my arm tightly as if to dare me to try and bolt. My chosen horse was tied to Lucio's, and after I was perched upon the horse and surrounded by the others, we started down the road that wound into the country side. The wide, open countryside. Swallowing back what felt and tasted like vomit, I steeled my heart. I wouldn't fail the next time. Freedom was as good as mine.

* * *

"**What? Such a short chapter after such a long time to wait?"**

**Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I suck. X3 But in my defense, I've been enjoying my Christmas break and have been spending it with my family! So don't hate me please! I go back to school next Monday, so no hate for my first week in 2nd semester.**

**I've been trying to get into Mass Effect these past few weeks. But the ending sucks, so I don't want to play it, but I do because I want Kadian's ass. I. NEED. KAIDAN'S. ASS. NAO. It's really hard for me to get into, though, because I suck at shooter games. It's all so...so difficult. I'm used to the games with swords and stuff so I can just run up and go "stab!". I don't know.**

**Anyway, don't be too upset with me, and I hope you like where this story's going. Because it's all changing from this point on.**

**Make sure to check out my tumblr and DeviantART!**

**Also, I'll give a shout out to my dear friend xXTron'sGirl13Xx, and her wonderful continuation of this story. Love you, and best of luck with everything!**

**Thanks for the read, and please review!  
**


	19. The Escape

**-Holy poop! It's like the good old days, isn't it? Where it takes me months to update? I must sincerely apologize—not only am I back into a rough semester of school, but I've been indulging myself in a bit (a lot) of Mass Effect. I'm in love with that (those) games. If I was better at writing futuristic stuff, I would totally do fanfictions of those games.  
****-Also, I'm really sorry. This chapter is a lot of description. There's not a lot of conversation going on. But that's just how it is. Next chapter will be better, promise.**

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
****xXTron'sGirl13Xx  
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****The Liesmith**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**The Escape**

* * *

About five miles out of Ortona, Lucio stopped his little party and ordered for camp to be set up. I had spent the entire time, staring out over the countryside, baffled and disappointed that there were no forests or even that much trees. In the dying light, it looked like some kind of hellish abyss that threatened to swallow me whole. As we stopped to make camp, Lucio made sure that I was securely handled by one of his men at all times, my arm taken into a large hand.

He ordered them around in a different language. I wondered why he did that—I knew that most of them had to understand Italian, for he talked to them like that before. Perhaps he didn't want me to know what was going on. A smart move on his part, but it wasn't going to be enough. I would get away. Or die trying. Whatever they wanted from me, they wouldn't get it.

I realized, however, that trying to escape that night was far too soon. I needed them to believe that I had given up hope before I would make a break for it. I'm not sure if it was punishment or what, but Lucio refused me dinner that first night. I stayed tied up, laying on my side far from the fire, watching as the others stayed warm and ate their meals. Not that any of it would have helped; I felt increasingly bitter. I wasn't sure that I could swallow any food as it was. The overwhelming need to strangle and kill Lucio turned into a hard, gnarled, angry knot in my stomach. I felt sick. I didn't want to eat.

Eventually, I fell asleep, the cold harsh ground my bed. I dreamt of the sea, the waves and the sunlight bouncing off of the faceted surface A moment later, I was jerked awake, one of the men hauling me up on my horse. Dawn hadn't even broke yet, and I longed to stare out at that sea again, lost deep in my mind with only the horizon as my future.

No words were spoken that morning, almost as if all the men were in desire of sleep just as I was. Even Lucio wasn't barking his poisoned words, those ice filled eyes pinned on the path that we traveled. It was a strange silence, but I tried not to let it bother me. Once completely woken up, my mind was like a bee hive, humming with ideas and plots for my escape. I figured that Lucio wasn't feeding me to drain my energy, but that wouldn't be enough. He had to give me food at some point to keep me alive, and that would be all that I would need. As long as I could breathe, I would fight.

The morning dragged on. When a water skin was passed around, I was offered a drink. I was stubborn, but I was no fool; ignoring the fact that all of the gross, dirty men had put their dry, cracked lips to the mouth of the skin, I took my own drink and passed it back. There was no room to be picky. I only got one shot, and I needed to do it right.

Although I knew and accepted that I was in the whole ordeal alone, I found myself often looking back. It was probably to appease that tiny, annoying voice inside of me that insisted that Ezio was going to save me. With each look back, I proved to myself that it wasn't going to happen.

"Still hoping?" I turned forward, my hands tightening on the reigns. Lucio was smirking back at me.

My stomach twisted, and one of my hands twisted into my shirt as if to stop the rumbling. Ignoring his jab, I replied, "I'm hungry."

"And you were hoping to find food behind us?" He laughed like a joyful child, turning back forward, effectively ignoring my request for food.

My jaw clenched. "If you don't feed me, I'll die."

"You're not going to die." He nonchalantly waved a hand through the air. "You'll eat when I decide. No exceptions."

I went to retort back, but one of the men riding beside me reached out and gripped my arm, a silent warning to shut my mouth. I did, but only because I realized that talking back would be a waste of time and energy. I needed all of that as I could muster.

Around the fire that night, I was sore and tired. I did get a meal that night, but it was small, and not very filling. Just enough to pull me over, I realized. It would be enough, really, but if I was going to convince them that I was growing weak, I'd have to play it up a bit. So after I ate, I slowly made my way over to my designated spot away from the fire, collapsing on the small blanket that was provided for me. I made sure my back was to the others before I allowed my plan to flesh out in my mind. Once their guard was down, perhaps when they were sleeping, I would make a run for it. And I _would_ get away. I knew that I was underestimating them, but I had no other option.

Two days passed, all moving in the same manner. Each day I pretended to grow more and more drained; however, some of it wasn't a facade. Lucio would only feed me every other day, and only one drink every noon. Given time, I would really be exhausted and beaten. I needed to move fast.

When we stopped the second night after riding through a rough, hot day, I came to a sudden realization that my plan was working. The men no longer gripped at my arms when I slid off of the horse. They no longer kept their dark, weary eyes on me as if I were some chit ready to bolt. It was only a matter of time. Feigning my weariness, I slumped down to the ground, resting my face against my knees, putting in slight ragged breathing for good measure. I really was tired. But I couldn't let such a thing stop me from my opportunity. Glancing up, I saw that the men were all busy setting up camp and pulling the horses over to a small shrub, tying the reigns to the small branches. With another side glance, I saw that Lucio was preoccupied with his map, deciding our path. The world suddenly started spinning as the opportunity presented itself. I eased myself up, ignoring my wobbling knees, my eyes darting around. This was my chance.

I took a step, pausing to see if this was really it. None of them seemed to notice. My breath shook as I filled my lungs with the cool evening air. Then I was running, blinding going for the long fields, the distant shadows, hoping and praying that I could keep going and never have to look back. Vaguely, I could hear their shouts, their warnings, their footsteps behind me. The weakness that had threatened to consume me days before decided to show itself, my body suddenly more fragile than I had first realized. My legs could barely keep up with the movement I was demanding of them.

But they hadn't caught me yet. I was nearly to the shadows of the hills, to the distant trees. I was going to make it. I was free!

My body was roughly thrown forward, and I crashed to the ground, suddenly in so much agony that I felt as though my entire soul were on fire. Crying out, I tried to push myself up, to keep running. I couldn't give up now. My shaking hand was pressed up to my right shoulder, where the fires were spouting from. Pushing myself up onto elbow, I looked down and felt the blood drain from my face. Sticking through my right shoulder was an arrow, the sharp, stone head glistening red in the dying sunlight, blood soaking into my shirt sleeve. No words came, just grunts and screams as my hand moved all around the arrow, trying to relieve the pain but failing horribly. Suddenly I couldn't move, and nothing made sense. My blood was in a rush as I saw my chance to escape slip away, swallowed by the shadows that were surrounding me.

"Get away from me," I managed to breath, but the threat came out like a plea. I couldn't distinct who was over me, which one of the shadows was the man I wanted to kill. But their hands grabbed at me, pulling me off of the ground, jerking me around. My shoulder, my arm...they felt as though they were going to break apart, burn to ashes. I tried not to, but my screams kept coming.

The world was spinning, and I was thrown down, the movement shoving the arrow further through my body, and I cried out in desperation for it to stop. The arrow was yanked out of me, the arrowhead ripping back through my flesh, tearing my muscles. Spinning, spinning...everything was focused on my shoulder, on the fires, on the screaming pain. My mind lost its hold, and everything was let go. A pleasant relief, but I terrible sign. I had failed.

* * *

My hand shot to my shoulder as I jerked awake, a jumbled mess of words falling from my mouth. My shoulder was so sore, in such pain, it was as if the fires had never stopped. It took a moment, but I realized that I was laying on a horse's back, swaying along with its movements. Why wasn't my shoulder wrapped up? How long had I been out. I tugged down the sleeve of my shirt as I tried to sit up. It was hard to get my head to turn down to gaze at my shoulder. The would was fleshy, bloody, not at all cleaned or treated. The air brushed against the wound, and I groaned in pain, my hand falling over it to try and ease the discomfort.

It didn't look good. I wasn't sure how long I had been out, but the wound looked like it was getting infected, the skin all red and sensitive. Managing a glance up, I saw the back of Lucio's head, the sunlight glinting off of his dark hair.

My breaths were hard, my eyes having trouble focusing. "W-what are you doing?" I muttered out.

"Excuse me?" He gazed back at me as if he had done nothing wrong.

"My shoulder," I gasped out.

"Oh yes." He turned forward again. "That whole ordeal. Don't worry about it."

"It's going to get infected!" I snapped, the volume returning to my voice. "You're going to kill me."

He chuckled as if I had told a rather hilarious joke. "No, I'm not. You brought this on yourself, did you not? I told you that there would be punishment for trying to run."

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get myself to sit up, my body more weak than it had been before. _Calm down_, I thought to myself. _Save your energy. Now is the best time ever to try and escape. They think I'm just going to roll over and give up. Well, I'll show them!_

I limply rested against the horse, breathing in the heavy scent of sweat, mud, horse manure... Closing my eyes, I focused on trying to get to sleep to gather my energy, but the insistent throbbing in my shoulder made it extremely difficult. I wouldn't give up just yet.

I lost track of the day. My time was spent with me trying to gather my bearings or sleeping. My shoulder was definitely infected, and that was affecting my plans. My mind was in such a haze and I felt extremely dizzy. I knew that I had a fever. I knew that it was only a matter of time before we would reach Brindisi. Lucio wouldn't give me any attention, any help. I was left alone in my rising fever, to suffer as a punishment from trying to escape. But my energy was failing fast. Whatever needed to be done, it had to be done quickly.

The horizon was glowing gold when Lucio announced our arrival at a large city called Foggia. I couldn't appreciate the place the way it should have been; my mind was hazy and nothing could break through the thickness. My body was drained, and I finally felt defeated; although, I wasn't going to give up. One more try. I had to do this. It was like I couldn't even comprehend where we were—a city, of course, but the crowds made my head spin even faster, the voices, the rush in the streets. I had been forced to sit up straight in my saddle before we entered the city, keeping my eyes on the back of Lucio's head. He said something to his men in that foreign language that I yet to understand, then slowed the horses to a stop, swooping down off of his horse. Like the decieving asshole that he was, he strode up to my mount and offered me his hand, throwing me a charming smile to top it all off. Just for some stupid facade that nobody really noticed.

I thought to ignore his hand and to slide off myself, but when everything went into a dizzying whirl, I decided to go along until I was laying down somewhere.

"Why, Narina," he mused with a grin. "You look quite pale. Need you a drink?"

I considered punching him. Hell, I even tried, my fist clenching tight and my arm raising up slightly. But my body wouldn't allow it, and my hand fell limply to my side as I put all of my hatred into one glare. It must not have been very impressive, for Lucio simply smiled again and turned to lead me and his men (who were right behind me, hands ghosting me) into a large building—an inn, I realized a moment later, seeing the people eating from bowls at the tables, the candle glow warm and inviting. Lucio was asking about a few rooms from a neatly dressed man with a pinched nose and thin mustache. The man readily took a hefty sum of Lucio's money and put three iron keys into Lucio's palm. He turned and gazed back at us, a smile on his lips.

"Here, take her to bed," he ordered, handing one of them the iron key to my room.

The men behind me seemed at ill-ease. "But sir," one of them muttered, "she _is_ looking rather pale. Should we not go fetch her a doctor."

Lucio froze for a moment as if a thought had occurred to him. Then a sickeningly sweet smile spread his lips, his icy blue eyes glinting. "I said take her to bed. Put two men outside of her door. Do you understand?"

Hesitantly, they all muttered "yes sir", and proceeded to drag me across the room, up a flight of stairs, and down a long hallway. Everything had been set to spinning again, and if it weren't for the men, I would have fallen flat on my face. They took me to a dark room, to a bed, where they let go of me and allowed me to blindly reach for the soft haven of blankets. As I settled against the pillows, the movements making no sense to me, they left the room, muttering among themselves before the door closed behind them. I was so tired that my plans for escape had been pushed aside. I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up to a throbbing shoulder. I was too hot, too cold. I was miserable. Groaning out, I rubbed at my shoulder, trying to ease the pain with a soft touch but to no avail. Why was Lucio allowing this to happen? I can understand the punishment aspect, but I had a real good chance of dying. Why didn't he seem to believe that?

Looking out of the window, the moonlight flooded in, the stars peeping through at me. I could still hear voices down in the common room of the Inn, the drunkards probably awake telling their tales. A thin strip of light beamed through under the door, and I idly remembered that there were two of the men waiting there.

I nearly settled back into the bed, but I caught myself through the fog and haze. My eyes landed back on the stars outside of the window...the window! That was my way out! I glanced back at the door, hoping that the men hadn't somehow heard my thoughts. Rolling off of the bed with slow movements, I tried standing on my feet. It was difficult, my balance gone all to hell, but I managed to silently get over to the window. With slow, deliberate movements, I quietly undid the latch and slowly pushed out the glass shutters. The hinges squeaked once or twice, making me cringe and look over my shoulder at the door. Not a sound from the other side. My heart was beating so fast, my hands shaking from more than the overwhelming fever. I was going to get away. When I looked down over the edge of the window, I gauged how far away the ground seemed. With how experienced I was with climbing, it wouldn't be too far of a drop. The night air was a welcomed yet detested relief. The cool breeze made my fever feel less of a problem, but it caused a shiver to rush through me despite my heated skin. No matter. This was going to happen.

With one more glance over my shoulder, I hoisted myself up onto the window pane, my arms shaking under my weight. One leg out the window. A glance at the door. Both legs out. I took a deep breath, looking down at the ground, my freedom. It suddenly looked so much further away than I had first anticipated. Twisting around, I lowered myself out of the window, my hands gripping tightly onto the wooden pane. When had I gotten so heavy? I panicked suddenly, my arms nearly giving out as I hung there at the edge of the window. My feet tried to brace themselves against the building, but my body was suddenly too weak. It was like my fingers were suddenly broken, and I fell, falling for a moment so fast that I couldn't even cry out in surprise. I landed with a earth-shattering thud on my back, the wind knocked out of me.

The world was spinning faster than ever, my eyes not able to focus on anything as I gasped for air. I was in an alleyway and it was late at night, so no people were there to help me up. Catching my bearings as well as I could, I finally rolled over onto my stomach, heaving breaths as I pushed myself up onto my knees. It was sad, but it took nearly all of my energy to push myself up, and once I was on my feet, I stumbled forward, pressing up against a building. The cool brick of the building made me feel slightly better, and I willed myself to walk down through the streets.

So I had escaped from Lucio, but how did I get away? I was in a strange city, a strange part of the country. I didn't know Italy well enough to travel across it by myself and without a map. Everything was a big blur as I stumbled through the city. The streets were pretty busy considering what time of night it was. Most of the people were drunk and stumbling around too, so I didn't stick out very much. I'm not sure how long I wandered around aimlessly, my energy being sapped away with every step I took.

All I remember is seeing the large gate towering over me as I walked through it, my mind scattering as I stared at the height. I knew somewhere in the reaches of my mind that I had made it out of the city, that I was going for the countryside. But where would I go from there? I had no sense of direction, the land was completely blotted out to darkness and shadows, I could barely walk straight, and I had no idea were I was heading. But anywhere aside from being in Lucio's grip was an improvement.

The rush of realization hit me as I stumbled up a loll of a hill. I was escaping. They weren't chasing after me. If I kept going, they wouldn't be able to find me. The though was powerful enough to keep me walking along. But the fever was taking its harshest toll at that point, my mind in a mushy mess, the cold night air more of a nuisance than a favor, despite my warmed skin. It felt like I had walked for hours and hours, but with a glance over my shoulder, I saw that I was only about a mile away from the city. The movement to turn back forward was suddenly too much, and I tripped over my feet, falling down to my knees. Then I collapsed, too tired and weak to keep moving. I had been so close. I tried to focus, to push myself back up, but my mind was disconnected with my body.

So there I laid on the grassy slope of a hill, shivering from the cold air, sweating from the fever, my mind trying to process more things that it was capable of. My shoulder was throbbing painfully again, warning me that I was pushing my limits. Just a little rest, and I would get back up. I had to.

I wasn't sure how long I laid there, half conscious, shivering in my misery. But I knew immediately when there was a presence next to me, a dark shadow hovering over me. No. No. I had been so close. Suddenly hopeless and weak, a sob broke from my throat, and I waved a limp arm at the shadow, trying to push it away. I just wanted to go home.

The shadow grabbed at my wrist before I could pull it back. I cried out in pain as I was pulled up, my shoulder screaming out in agony as I was cradled against the figure. A large hand ran over my arm, up to my neck and across my face. There were words, but my mind was so boggled that none of it made sense.

I had had enough of running. I just wanted to survive. No more pain. Just help me. Please. Leaning into the figure, I accepted that there was no way out. I was out of options.

"Narina."

Struggling with the simple task of opening my eyes, I froze at the realization of the familiarity of the voice. It couldn't be...? When I managed to get my eyelids to part, I was staring at the golden thread of a collar, the thick, strong neck of a man, speckled with stubble and dirt. My eyes lifted higher, sore in their own sockets. Hovering over me was Ezio, golden eyes filled with worry and relief. It had to be a delusion of the fever. There was no way that he could be there.

But what an illusion. I was surprised by the amount of details that I had remembered. His face, his eyes, his robes, that scar on his lips...everything was in place.

"You're burning," he muttered, his arms slipping around me as he lifted me into his arms. "What did they do to you?"

There were no words to say, my forehead pressing into his strong neck. Hell, I had even gotten the scent right. It was a comforting thought that, even in a feverish dream, I could remember Ezio like he really was there.

"I'm going to get you out of here," he breathed a promise, his body moving as he started to walk. "Just hold on."

My eyes couldn't stay open any more. As they closed, I lost all other senses and wondered idly before I passed out if I were still laying out in the middle of the field, alone and forgotten.

The sunlight was the next thing that I saw. The warmth was beating against my face, blinding me as I squinted against the light. My head still hurt, but my shoulder was extremely unhappy with me. I pushed away from whatever I was leaning against, groaning as my hand went to my shoulder.

"Narina," a deep voice came, making me pause. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head slowly. "No. My shoulder..."

"Your shoulder?" The movement under me stopped, and there was a hand pulling mine away from my shoulder, moving aside the material. "_Merda_," the voice muttered, making me look up to stare into golden pools of concern. "Why isn't this healed or wrapped up?"

"I...I don't know. They didn't...they shot me."

Cursing under his breath, the man leaned forward to rummage through a bag at the side of the horse. It all came to me then, the horse, the area around me. The man in front of me. How long was this going to last? The next thing I knew, he was wrapping my shoulder with some bandages after rubbing something pasty on it. "It's pretty infected," he told me calmly. "We'll have to get you a doctor once we get to Naples."

Naples? What was going on?

Finally, my brow furrowed in confusion as I stared intently at the man focused on my shoulder. "Ezio?" I muttered.

"It's me," he said with a half-smile. "Sorry, I'm a little late."

I was shaking my head as he finished with the bandages. It didn't make any sense. He should have still been in Venice. I was supposed to do this by myself. Was this even real? Suddenly overwhelmed, I leaned back forward, pressing my face into his back. "Don't worry—I'll get you somewhere safe, Narina."

I heard the words, took them in, but I didn't feel their comfort. Nothing made sense. But he was there. Ezio was actually there.

* * *

**So this it... a short chapter, I know. I was going to make it longer, but then I figured that it would take me another month to get the rest of it out. So here you all go! **

**I do apologize for the long wait. Like I said before, I have been so enraptured with Mass Effect that I kind of forgot about this story. I also have three English classes this semester, so that's a little time consuming.**

**I've already told a few of you how Ezio is actually there. How he was there in the last chapter, but no one seemed to notice. It'll be explained next chapter. The sex was supposed to happen next chapter as well, but...idk, I don't feel like writing smut for everyone to see, especially since this site has taken a stand against that. I might write it out and then have it on the side for anyone who is interested. But we'll see how it all fleshes out.**

**Thanks for the read, the patience, and please review! :3**

**Don't forget to check out xXTron'sGirl13Xx continuation of this story!**


	20. Life by the Sea

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* * *

**Chapter 20**

**Life by the Sea**

* * *

The next few moments I remember were blurred bunches of nonsense. Movements. Colors. Heat and cold. The shivers. The pain. I wasn't entirely sure of what I would see or what was happening.

I came to with a start, my body seizing for a moment before it jerked awake, a gasp tearing from my mouth as I began to look around for any threat. My head was cradled, a large hand cupping around the back of my skull. Something was dripping into my hair.

Ezio was staring down at me, smiling comfortingly, my head laying in his lap. His other hand was pressing a cool, damp rag against my forehead. "Hey," his voice came, heavy and deep. "How are you feeling?"

A groan was my answer, my eyes squishing shut.

"I wrapped up your shoulder," he continued softly. "I did what I could with what little I had, but, until we have an actual doctor, it'll still be in some pain."

I didn't care about my shoulder anymore. It was like it had gone numb, and it didn't concern me anymore. There was something else egging for my attention. "My throat," I croaked out. "I'm thirsty."

He moved slightly, then there was coolness on my lips, and desperately quaffed at the water, the taste almost sweet. When I turned my head away, stopping before I would drown myself, I muttered, "Where are we?"

"The countryside," he answered. "We're heading to Naples, westward."

It _was _his voice, his touch...but, for some reason, nothing quite made sense, like I didn't really believe he was there. My mind was in such a haze that it did feel quite dreamy. Looking up again, I caught his golden gaze, his scarred smile. "Only a little further now," he whispered, his white hood rippling in a gust that brushed by us.

His familiar voice and warmth made everything calmer in a way, and even if I thought it was a dream. When my eyes closed again, my mind threatening to let go in the mixed mess, Ezio's hand went to my face. "Narina," he beckoned, but I cared not. My face was too hot and my body was still shaking. I relaxed, actually falling asleep for once instead of blacking out.

* * *

Sleep wasn't necessarily good for me. I woke up feeling worse than before. My eyes were scrunched shut to ease the spinning, and it was too hot, too cold. My body was being tugged at, my shirt pulled up over my head as my arms limply went with the movement. The cold air caused my body to shiver, goosebumps prickling my skin, a shiver shimming down my spine.

"Here." There was that voice again. "Lean against me. Can you lift your hips?"

I did as the voice asked of me, but something was trying to come forward in my frayed mind. His large hands brushed against my bare stomach, my hips, and the slacks that I had worn for countless days were sliding down my legs.

Whoa. Wait.

A bolt of energy shot through me, down my arm, and my hand gripped at his, stopping it as my nails dug threateningly into his palm. No words made sense in my mind, all spinning rampantly in my head, but I was finally able to mutter out, "Stop."

"A bath will make you feel better," he explained, his hand turning in mine so it was comfortingly squeezing my fingers. "In any case, you smell pretty bad, too." I heard the teasing tone, the warmth of his breath on my face. "Put your arms around me—make this easier for both of us." Hesitantly, I let go of his hand, lifting my arms up and around his shoulders and neck. I'm not sure if it was my fingers tangling into his hair, or the smell of his sweat and skin as I pressed my face into his neck, but I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that it was actually Ezio holding me. That he was legitimately there with me. I clung to him, ignoring the fact that it was his hands stripping me. It all came back to me, how it was impossible for him to be there, how long it had actually been since I had seen him. Questions formed, but none would construct right in my mouth, my lips unable to do such a task.

Was it the fever or the fact that his rough, huge hands were touching my bare skin that made my face heat up, my heart thudding in my ears? With my eyes closed, I could imagine that I had never left Venice, that the fever that heated my body was just a result of fatigue from fighting off my attackers. That Ezio had saved me, and we were going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay.

But then I fell, falling into the bay, engulfed in the water. I thrashed, crying out as I reached for Ezio, too close to peace to die by water.

"Narina!" He called to me, his hands gripping my arms. "Calm down! You're fine!"

My eyes shot open, flickering to everything I could focus on. A dark, dusty room, the water entrapping me, Ezio's presence over me, a candle flickering in the corner. Only one phrase came to me; "I can't swim," I breathed, shaking as I gripped onto Ezio's arms. "I can't swim."

"Shh. I know. You're fine." I caught onto his eyes, the depths of the gold. "It's just a bathtub."

I took that in, taking a moment to process his words. Without saying anything, I slowly let go of Ezio, my arms dropping down into the water that was much too warm to be Venetian waters. As I settled back against the marble of the tub, I relaxed and heaved a sigh, the panic slowly but surely dying away. He let go of me, moving around so he was positioned behind me.

A bowl in his hand appeared next to me, dipping into the bath water. "You feeling okay?" He asked.

I assessed myself for a short moment before I shook my head slowly. "My head isn't working right. I...I can't think properly."

"Fevers do that to people." The full bowl was dumped over my head, making my eyes clamp shut as my hair slicked over my shoulders and down my back. "I'll have a doctor stop by tomorrow to take a look at your shoulder and possibly give you some medicine for the fever." He stopped as I sputtered out the water that had collected at my lips. I felt his fingers touching at my shoulder, awakening a small spout of pain. "Why would they do this?" He asked, his words suddenly far away as the pain became more prominent. I didn't answer, just flinched away from his touch, hunching over so that my face was nearly in the water. He apologized quickly, the bowl dunking back into the water.

He said nothing more as he continued to drench me, effectively cooling me off, even if it was a small difference. I realized that I could have probably taken care of the bath myself at that point, the water reviving, but Ezio seemed so intent that it felt wrong to disrupt him. He fished out a sliver of soap from a small pack next to him, something he must have purchased before, and he scrubbed at my hair with it, making sure the suds wouldn't fall into my eyes. It felt nice to be pampered, but even then, it didn't make the throbbing go away. My head would still occasionally spin if I moved wrong, so I tried to stay still, focusing on the way his hands ran through my soapy hair. Soon, his hands went to my neck, my shoulders, spreading the suds to my skin. They paused on my shoulders, holding me lightly. Then they were gone, the bowl dipping back into the water, and I was doused once more, the soap running down across my face.

The bath ended quickly, Ezio making sure that my hair was soap free before he helped me stand up. The room was suddenly too cold, the water running down my body no longer a welcomed comfort, and I wrapped my arms around me to try and stop the quivering. In the next dizzying moment, Ezio was wrapping me in a blanket, drying me off and warming me up.

"Here, dry off and get dressed," he muttered, suddenly distant, putting a folded pile of clothes on the nearby table. "I'm going to go get you something to eat before you pass out again."

Food! That sounded delightful! He made sure I was sitting in a chair before he left. My body didn't seem to want to move, but I made myself staggeringly stand so I could pull on the very large tunic that hung to my knees. It was the only piece of clothing in the pile, and I was grateful that I didn't have to try and do acrobats to get into pants on my wobbly legs. Collapsing back into the chair, I waited patiently for the food that had been promised to me. My stomach was in so much pain that I hadn't noticed before. I was starving.

Despite how hungry I was, however, I nearly fell asleep before Ezio even got back. The bath _had_ done wonders, and I felt slightly okay for the first time in days. Luckily he caught me on the cusp of sleep, having to shake me awake before he put a plate of food in my hands. I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but I scarfed it down without a question. The food hit rock bottom in my stomach, making my head spin, but I was happy. Happy, but too tired and weak to move. Ezio seemed to interpret my inner turmoil and proceeded to lift me up, carrying me out of the small room, and into a maze of darkness. I didn't even bother trying to cling to consciousness.

* * *

There was an unknown man above me, staring at me, touching me. I considered to squirm away, but my reaction was delayed, and he "ooh"ed in pleasant surprise. "My, my! She's awake! Quite delirious, though, as I can tell. Look at her eyes darting about!"

I felt as though the strange man was making fun of me, so my eyes narrowed into slits, trying to threaten the man. It must have looked pathetic, for he laughed like a giddy child.

"She'll be fine, then?" Ezio! My eyes shot to the other side of me, the white-clad assassin hovering over me.

"It's quite amazing, really," the other voice came. "The infection in the shoulder must have been much worse only days ago. It would have killed many men."

Ezio chuckled, drawing my scatted attention back to him, the room spinning behind the figures. "She is quite the fighter," he claimed warmly, his voice the only true stable thing in the world. "Quite the stubborn woman, actually. It's a pain in my ass."

I actually smiled at that, letting my eyes close. There were more words, but none of them really made much sense. My shoulder and face was touched a few more times, the voices turning into low hums until everything sort of let go.

* * *

I swear it was immediate when I opened my eyes again, but it was dark, the man gone, Ezio nowhere. But I felt better. Extremely better. Pushing the covers off of myself, I was overwhelmed with how well I could concentrate, how I could focus on small things. My head no longer spun with dizzying speeds, my hands, my body, no longer shaking. My shoulder was still a little sore, wrapped up tightly, but I could think clearly. My mind was finally working again.

As I sat up, staring around the dark room, a rag falling from my head to my lap, a question that should have been there from the beginning appeared: where was I? What happened to Lucio and the others? How in the hell was Ezio there in the first place? Coughing suddenly, I realized that the whole room was covered in dust, untouched for so many years. My hand pressed to my stomach, moving the oversized tunic over my skin. Standing from the bed, I swayed under my own weight, the movement threatening to whirl my thoughts. But I stayed strong and staggered to the door that was cracked open, leaning against the frame. I bumped into the wood of the door, opening it wider. Faced with a long hallway, decorated with washed-out, red curtains, my eyes fell on a opened door at the end of the hall, a light pouring through.

I moved towards it, my footsteps heavy, seemingly shaking the floor beneath me. As I came closer to the door, I began to wonder if it had all been a dream. If I was really still captured, and in that lit room, I would find those icy depths that I had hoped to have escaped. So I hesitated as I stopped just outside of the light pouring through. I considered my options. I stepped forward, stepping into the room.

Words cannot even begin to describe how relieved I was to find myself staring into the warmth of those familiar gold eyes.

"Narina," Ezio said, eyes widening. He was sitting at a large, cluttered desk, the surface marked with his finger's trails in the dust. "You're awake."

"Yeah." I looked around the room, seeing that it was an old study of sorts, bookshelves that were nearly empty, and the books that were left were dusty and untouched.

"Are you feeling any better?" He sat the paper he had been studying down on the desk, the candle flickering at the disturbance in the air.

"Uh...yes." I looked back to him. I hadn't realized before, but his hair was cropped short, his beard dark and full. He looked so tired.. "I'm just...confused."

"I can imagine." He leaned back in his chair, a lazy smile on his lips. "The past few days have been a big blur, haven't they?"

"There's bits and pieces," I explained, rubbing at my shoulder. "But do you want to explain it to me? Things aren't making any sense right now."

His smile turned more warm and he waved a hand to a dusty, old chair to the side of the desk. As I sat down in it, I thought for sure it was going to crumble under me. Luckily, it only creaked before it settled with my weight. His large hands folded in his lap as he sat up straight. "We'll start off in Venice," he began. "Once I was done with the mission—."

"How did that end up?" I interrupted, remembering the important mission we had set up before everything had gone to hell.

His face scrunched. "Not so well. I killed my target, but not before he managed to poison the Doge. The death of both men were pinned on me."

A pout twisted my lip up to the side. "And you managed to escape?"

His brow quirked. "Well, I'm here, am I not?" I frowned, giving Ezio an annoyed look. He continued before I could say anything. "It wasn't easy. I was planning on grabbing you and getting out of Venice that night. My notoriety was so high, it was difficult to even move around. I headed back to the Seta in the shadows, but, as luck would have it, I ran into Rosa. She was frantic and said neither her nor Ugo had been informed of the mission, and were insisted on helping. On their way to the Ducale, however, they had found Antonio heavily wounded in the streets."

My stomach twisted unpleasantly, my mind flashing back to those terrified eyes from the bleeding Venetian man. "Is he okay?"

"Rosa said that she had Ugo take him back to the Seta for healing., but we can only hope that he survived. Rosa told me what Antonio said about the men stalking you and him, fighting and wounding him, and then taking you to the docks." His folded hands let go of each other, tensing into fists. "I knew it was the men from the forest," Ezio went on, his eyes dropping down, staring at nothing. "In a panic, I went to the nearest dock, hoping that you would be there. I saw a few of the cloaked figures on the deck of a boat, but you were nowhere in sight. I had to take my chances, so I bribed my way onto the boat. The men would recognize me from our fight before, so I cut my hair, let my beard grow, and hid my robes."

"Wait." My brow furrowed, my head tilting. "You were on the boat?"

Another smile. "I was."

"What? Where?" I was shocked. Ezio had been there the entire time?

"You gave me a drink one time," he reminded me, "when I was hurling my insides overboard."

My mouth hung open. Had the idea of him being there made me so blind at the time? Of course that had been Ezio! "Why didn't you tell me?" I breathed, remembering how he had always turned his face away from me.

"I never had the chance to," he said, shrugging as though it were no big deal. "Besides, what could I have done to help while on a boat? I had to wait for better conditions. We were both stranded, not to mention I was in no condition to fight."

It made sense, but it would have been a much better process to know that Ezio had been there. My hope would have been at a much better place. "So then what?" I continued to ask, moving in a way so that the chair creaked out. "Why weren't you there to help that first night off of the boat?"

"Puking on a boat for God-knows-how-long really makes a person unable to function, Narina," he pointed out, frowning. "As soon as I was off of that boat, I was miserable, my world spinning, my legs weak. I was like a babe barely learning how to function. Since it was so late, I figured that you and your company would have stayed in the city for the night. So when I woke up the next day and asked around, I figured out that your crew had left the city the night before. I was always a step behind after that, only catching up in Foggia.

"I asked around, the guards being especially helpful, and I figured out that you had been taken to an Inn in the eastern district. So I went there, flirted with the serving maids, and got information on where you were being held and what room the leader was sleeping in."

That reminded me. What if Lucio was right behind us this entire time, watching from the shadows? "Lucio will catch us soon," I muttered, head down turned as I studied my hands. "He won't give up."

"He will," Ezio assured. "I killed him."

My eyes shot up, a small stutter of my breath. "Really?"

"I snuck into his room, found him asleep. I stabbed him and left him to bleed. After, I went to the room you were in."

"But the men were positioned at my door," I recalled, shaking my head. "There was no sound of fighting."

"No men were there," Ezio explained, moving in his chair. "They were all down in the common room, drinking and having a good time. I figured that, without their leader, they wouldn't come after us for a while. So I went to your room, but you were gone, the bed messy, but empty." He suddenly frowned, leaning forward as he buried his face in his hands. "God damn, Narina, I was terrified when I saw the open window, the idea of you being out there on your own nearly paralyzing me. I may not know much about southern Italy, but I knew that you were even less knowledgeable of the lands." Sighing, he relaxed back in the chair. "With the help of the city guard and a few friendly people, I was pointed in the direction that you had gone." Even if he had relaxed, his face paled. "You were out in the middle of a field, a dark heap on the ground, skin flushed and much too hot. I thought you had been poisoned." He swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing. "I thought you were going to die."

I sat there and stared at him as he rubbed his chin, his neck, suddenly looking so very uncomfortable. I allowed him to take his time, holding back my questions. "I brought you westward in my panic," he muttered. "The only place I could think of was Naples."

"Why Naples?" I whispered, feeling the need to reach out to him, to comfort him.

He lifted a hand from his face, gesturing to the room. "Remember what I told you on the way to Venice? This is my Uncle's house that I told you about."

I looked around the room again, trying to imagine some faceless uncle of Ezio's living in the same room. "Then is he not still...?" I faded off, already knowing my answer.

"I'm not sure," Ezio admitted. "I'll have to ask my mother when we get back to Monteriggioni. If this place would have been sold, though, I think it would have been more recently used." He paused, color back in his cheeks. "Maybe they stopped coming every summer. Or maybe he's dead."

I didn't like how he acted so nonchalant about it all. I went to reach out for his hand on his lap, but stopped myself. "Is it okay that we're here then?"

"This house is far enough from the city of Naples that we should be fine."

"How long have we been here?"

Ezio turned his attention back to an open book on the desk. "Three days. You remember the doctor, right? That was yesterday morning."

I folded my arms, smiling. "I've been sleeping most of this time—what have you been doing?"

He returned the gesture, almost in a mocking way. "I've been busting my ass taking care of _you_." His hand reached out to me, pressing against my forehead. "You're still a little warm, but definitely better."

"Oh please," I said, brushing his hand away. "I know you. You couldn't stand staying in a room all day, holding my sickly little hand."

He chuckled, such a welcomed noise that I couldn't help but smile in return. "Well, I was trying to be nice. But I have been spending a lot of time going through the house, trying to find anything. Training routines." A far too charming grin appeared on his face. "And giving you baths."

Taking a deep breath, I leaned back in the chair, looking away. I should have known that he'd bring that up. The movement caused a rather loud creak from the chair. Suddenly I was thrown to the ground, laying in a pile of wood. It took me a moment to gather my bearings, but when they collected, Ezio's laughter was the only thing that came in clear.

"Don't be an ass!" I exclaimed, pushing myself up quickly, coughing on the dust.

"It's not my fault the chair decided that you were too heavy," he chuckled, leaning back in his own sturdy chair.

My mouth opened to make a compelling argument, but my words were shoved away as my hand shot to my shoulder. The clever argument turned into a low "ow".

Ezio's glee was stuffed away, and he was quickly helping me up out of the debris of the chair, onto my own feet. "God, you need to be more careful, Narina."

I pouted, elbowing at him. "It's not my fault the chair decided that I was too heavy," I snapped, throwing his own words back at him.

He rolled his eyes, taking me by my elbow. "You should get some rest. It's late."

"Ezio, I've been sleeping for the past three days." I pulled away, taking a few steps before looking back at him. "I'm hungry. Do we have food?"

A disapproving look came over his face, but he sighed, stepping forward with me. "Yes, we do. We need to look at your shoulder after, though."

* * *

"Ow."

"Stop rubbing at it," Ezio ordered, pointing a threatening finger at me.

"It hurts," I complained.

"And rubbing it helps how?" He pulled the tunic sleeve down, wadding the old bandages together and placing them on the side table. The edge of the bed was indented under us, my "room" dimly lit by a single candle. My stomach was full of dried meats and fruit that Ezio had bought, so aside from my shoulder hurting, I was happy. "The doctor said that this salve will help the healing process, but it'll take time. So don't be so impa—stop rubbing at it!" He roughly pulled my hand from my shoulder. When I pouted at him, he shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense to me why they didn't heal this when it happened. Were they trying to kill you?"

I thought about it too. "It's strange," I admitted. "The entire trip, Lucio would threaten to kill others around me if I disobeyed. He never threatened to ever hurt me. I know that he wanted me alive, and that was the only thing that mattered to him." I paused. "The doctor said that this would have killed many other people. It's a disturbing thought, but I think Lucio knew that I wasn't going to die from it. He knew me so well. It was...scary." I looked up at Ezio, who was staring speculatively at me. "I almost want to say that I'm sad you killed him," I whispered. "He had information about me that I've forgotten. Ezio, he knew me from before I forgot. That man—that scrawny, young man—had so much power over me."

Seeing my discomfort, he grabbed my good shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly. "He could have been lying to you. Making you think that he knew something about you when he was just making it up."

"He told me that there are others like me," I whispered, remembering the sea, the boat. "That I'm not the only one. And I don't know what he means by that." My eyes shut, something suddenly fighting to break free from the black void in the back of my mind. "Who the hell am I, Ezio?"

"Forget Lucio." Ezio's hand found mine, holding it in his warm grip. "Forget everything he said. It was just poisoned words to make you weak." He lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my palm. "He's dead, and you're safe now."

"I know." His beard crinkled under my touch, tickling my skin with its coarse fingers. "But it seems like a lot to kidnap me and drag me across Italy."

"Where was he going to take you?"

"He never said. We were going to Brindisi, but it wasn't our destination."

"Never heard of it," Ezio muttered.

I stared at him, his tired eyes, his slightly crooked nose, his scarred lips. "You're tired," I said, reaching up out of his hold, touching under his golden eyes, the dark pockets that had formed there. "You look like a mess."

"Thanks," he muttered, pulling away. "That's what I like to hear."

I smiled. "Go get some rest. I'll try to go to bed too. But no promises."

He laughed, standing up from the edge of the bed. "Now that you're feeling better, I guess we can go home soon."

Home. Monteriggioni. That small city seemed so far away. "Deal." I quirked my brow. "But you should shave. I'm not going to travel with you if that thing is attached to your chin."

A hurt look took control of his face, and he reached up to touch at his beard gently as if appalled by such a suggestion. But I knew better. "So, while you kill that beast living on your face tomorrow, I'm going to check this place out. We don't have to leave immediately, do we?"

He was still rubbing at his chin. "I guess not." Then he yawned, loud and wide. "Time for sleep. Try not to stay up too late."

"Yeah, like I said, no promises." I smiled. "And thanks, Ezio."

I'm glad I didn't have to specify, because I don't think I could have. There was just so much. He just smiled and left the room.

* * *

I managed to fall asleep again, despite how much rest that I had before. Morning woke me up with bright sun rays pouring through the torn holes of the curtains. In the light of the day, I looked at the room in a whole new sense, taking in the high ceiling, the dusty furniture. The bed was small, the blankets only lively looking from the few days that I had been rolling the dust out of. It was warm and welcoming, but it didn't seem right. It wasn't an Auditore home.

Climbing out of the bed, I messed with the tunic and how it fell around my knees, thinking it was high-time to get a pair of slacks, and walked over to the window. The curtains were of fine make, soft under my touch. I pulled them aside, allowing a flood of light to wash out over the room. The dust specks floating in the air glittered in the light, dancing before my eyes. I leaned forward, looking out the glass window, my breath taken away. Before the window was a vast sea, one of the deepest blue-greens that I had ever seen. Colors like that had never been replicated in any paintings. The shore was rocky, gray and foamy, and the waves crashed against the smooth surfaces over and over again. It was beautiful.

I spent a moment looking for shoes, but quickly gave up, heading out of the room as fast as I could. My mind was so focused on the sea outside that I didn't pay much attention to the grand rooms I traveled through to find the front door, large and made of polished oak.

As I stepped outside, a gust rolled over the front step, ruffling my clothes, sending my hair into an even bigger mess. But my attention was on that sea, my face spread out in a large grin. I crossed the path that ran by the house and continued towards the water, the dark, sea-sprayed rocks soon under my feet. The rocks were slippery, though, and I knew better than to wander out too far onto the rocks, not wanting to risk slipping into the cold waters. It was a peacefulness of a chaotic sort, the waves lapping between the rocks, spray fanning through the air, licking at my toes. The rush of the water drowned out most of the noise, and my toes curled around the smoothness of the stones. The wind was cold yet surprisingly comforting, like my skin was still heated by the harsh fever. It was nice. There were sea birds down the shore a ways off, crying out loudly as they circled about. Before I went back into the large villa, I made sure I had thrown a few of the dark pebbles into the water just to watch the water splash about.

Once back inside, I was finally able to appreciate how pretty the house was, even in the layers of dust. It was completely obvious that whoever had lived there before had plenty of money. The ceilings were high, trimmed with beautiful wooden work, painted elegantly under all of the dust. Each room was buried under time, but the brilliance still shown through. The house was almost frozen in time, waiting for someone to brush away the sands that hazed it all so much. I wandered through the house aimlessly, the upstairs, the downstairs. I found every little bathing room and even a hidden door in one of the halls that opened up into a small storage place. It was magical, a mystical world that I had never dreamed of before.

The search ended with me back in the study that I had found Ezio in the night before. The stupid chair was still in a pile of broken wood, and that gave me intense satisfaction for some reason. I moved to the desk, looking at the book that was still laid out. Frowning, I realized that it was in a different language. Why did Ezio have it out?

"Oh, there you are." I turned around quickly, startled. Ezio was in the doorway, sleepily rubbing at his eyes. "I heard you walking around—the floorboards are super loud upstairs."

"Sorry," I muttered, smiling innocently. "Just wanted to look around."

"What do you think?" He asked, walking into the room, pausing for a moment to stare at the pile of wood on the ground. "Pretty place, isn't it?"

"Yes," I agreed. "I'm not sure why, if your Uncle does still own this place, they wouldn't come back here. It's very relaxing." I smiled. "I like the sea. It's very beautiful."

Ezio chuckled as if the thought tickled him. "Ironic, then." He shook his head. "What of the house?"

"What about it?"

"It's clearly abandoned," he pointed out, going to the desk, his fingers running across the book. "Do you think that we should come back here every now and again?"

The thought excited me, but I was still skeptical. "Wouldn't that be such a hassle to travel all the way down here just to find out that some family moved in?"

Ezio shrugged. "I'll have to see if my uncle is still alive first. If he is and still owns the place, I'll ask him if it would okay for us to visit. Maybe clean the place up again. It's going to waste just rotting away."

"True." I folded my arms, staring at Ezio's hand placed on the book. "Then I suppose that wouldn't be a bad idea. It would be nice to have a place to escape to when life gets insane." He hummed in agreement, his focus on the sliver of window he could see through the curtain. I glanced up at him. "Do you speak another language or what?" I gestured to the book when he gave me a confused look.

"Oh." He smiled. "Yes. French. I've known since I was a boy. My father made sure I was a cultured little shit, you know."

"Oh, I see." I laughed. "You're pretty fluent?"

He shrugged. "I've gotten a little rusty over the years. I never liked the lessons very much."

"Hm. So, what's in the book?"

His hand ran across the page, like he was touching the words, his eyes dazing over. "My uncle would read it to us sometimes," he whispered. "After our boat rides when I would be sick and miserable. My cousins would make fun of me, so my uncle would try to make me feel better."

I stepped forward, putting my hands on the edge of the desk. "Do you miss him?"

His shoulders bobbed nonchalantly once more. "Not really. It's been a while since I've seen him. Feelings fade after that amount of time. Besides, relations on my mother's side of the family were never all that strong." He suddenly closed the book, pushing it aside as he sighed.

My eyes locked up on him. "Then you spent more time with Mario?"

"_Si_. Monteriggioni isn't nearly as far away as Naples is. Mario was more of a kid man, anyway. There was always fun to be had at the villa." He suddenly looked disturbed, his mouth dipping down into a frown. "When I look back on it now, though, the truth about my family was written all over Mario's home. My nativity must have made me blind to it, but it's obvious now."

"Did you not have fun here?" It seemed like an ideal place for a child—many rooms to run and hide in, a wide, open space outside for energized children, the sea only a few steps away.

"Federico and I managed to make the most out of it," he said with a grin. "Of course, as we grew older, it stopped being such an adventure. We knew the place too well to find anything about it at all mysterious. Although..." He faded off, rubbing at his beard.

"What?" I prompted, leaning over the desk excitedly.

"There was a cave that Federico and I had found out on the shore," he said slowly. "It was our secret hideout, although when Claudia found us once, we made it clear that she wasn't allowed inside. I wonder if it's still there."

"Should we go look for it?" I was grinning like a small child who had been given sweets.

Ezio chuckled, shaking his head. "The tide seems rather high at the moment. It's probably filled in right now. We have have to some other time, if we ever come back."

I deflated, backing away from the desk. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

Sighing, he walked around the desk, reaching out to grab my arm. "First, we look at your shoulder. How does it feel?"

At the mention of it, I realized that it was a little sore. "It's fine," I insisted, but Ezio was determined to look at it. He led me back down the hall to my room, and we sat down at the edge of the bed again, going through the same process to redress my shoulder.

As he finished up the wrapping, I fingered at the edge of my tunic. "Where's my normal clothes? Can I have them?"

"Oh, right. They're out in the back drying on a clothes wire. I felt obliged to clean them because they had blood and dirt stains all over them. You're such a messy person." He grinned and dodged my slap at his shoulder. "I can go grab them for you." He gathered the old pile of bandages from the night before, the new pile, and left out the door, his footsteps echoing loudly off of the wooden floors. As soon as I heard the front door close, and only then, I started to rub at my sore shoulder.

* * *

Ezio came back, plopping the clothes into my lap. I was happily sated with myself, my shoulder probably hurting more than before, but still happy. "Thanks," I said, holding up the top, still seeing the faint blood stain on the shoulder, a hole ripping through the fabric. The observation made my skin crawl as the memory of the pain flooded with it. I glanced away from the shirt and up to Ezio, who was staring down at me quietly, no emotion on his face.

"Um." I flicked a hand at him. "Are you going to leave so I can change?"

He shrugged, still no real emotion. "I've seen you naked before. Why do I have to leave?"

Immediately my cheeks heated up, the game that he played not even close to being fair. "Because it would be rude for you to stay and watch me, you pervert."

"Please, you're no different than any other woman I've seen." His smile quirked in an odd angle. "Although you do have the cutest little constellations of freckles on your body. It's like you have a map of the stars on you, though backwards since your skin is so white and they're all dark." For added effect, his eyes dropped down the front of me, pausing in some places as if he memorized my skin's constellations.

My pulse was going way too fast, and I became absurdly aware of how many freckles and moles that I had. I threw a finger at him, my eyes narrowing. "Just because I was sickly and you thought it okay to give me a bath does not give you the right to look at my body, Ezio."

"I never said it did," he retorted, his brow furrowing, arms folding tightly, all sense of teasing gone. "You really should quit assuming things, Narina. It gets you into dark places." With that, he turned and walked out of the room, saying something about food.

I stared at the doorway, not entirely sure which of us was more right in the matter. I glanced down at the shirt in my lap again, my fingers tracing over the blood stain slowly. Even if I believed in my own words, I still felt as though I had to apologize to him. Frowning, I stood up and got dressed, wondering where the hell I had lost my fighting spirit.

Once comfortably dressed in normal clothes, I followed after Ezio towards the dining hall where we would eat. He was already at the table, picking at some food on his plate. I quietly went forward, sitting across from him. He didn't look up, his eyes focused on the piece of fruit he had stabbed at multiple times with his fork.

"Sorry," I said, my eyes dropping. "I didn't mean to make you upset."

"I know." He put down his fork, but he eyes stayed lowered. "I'm just sick and tired of this same argument over and over again."

I frowned. "Well, you have to admit, it's a good concern for me to have. Do you not realize how many women you actually sleep around with?"

Finally, his eyes shot up at me, glinting ferociously in the light streaming through the window. "Yes, I do, Narina," he snapped. "Five. There's been five women."

That had to have been a lie. I shook my head at him. "Don't try to make it sound so minor, Ezio. I know the truth."

He angrily sighed. "There you go again, automatically assuming that every woman I smile at is one of my conquests. I don't have to have sex with a woman to make her scream. It's not required to have my _pene_ inside of her _gatto_ to find some sort of bliss!" I didn't like this side of Ezio. Not the whole focused on sex, but the anger. He had been annoyed with me before, and probably upset a few times. But he had never been angry at me. "You don't even understand, Narina," he continued, standing from the table. "How can you? You're still a virgin."

My arms were folded tightly over my chest, my eyes adverted to the side, my mouth pressed into a straight line. He was right. He left the room, leaving his plate of food still full. It looked good, but I wasn't hungry anymore. Why did it always end up in a fight?

Instead of following after him, I left the room and walked out the front door, back down to the rocky shore. The sky had not a cloud in the sky, but, guessing by the smell of the wind, a storm had to be coming soon. I stood down on the slippery rocks, throwing stones into the water with all my might, for about an hour, the sun shifting higher into the sky. I was trying to vent out my anger, but I could only find it rising with each throw, more and more things coming to my mind. Ezio may have been right, but that didn't make me any less upset. When I finally realized that the rock throwing was doing no good, I turned to leave and find something else to do. I ended up slipping on a wet, smooth rock, and fell down, a rock seemingly piercing up into my ass along with my tailbone being bruised. I was so angry, so upset. I just sat there and cursed for a good minute, throwing a mini tantrum. That ended quickly, and I was left to awkwardly sit there on the bumpy rocks, my body being oddly wedged between the stones. I sat out there for a long time, listening to the waves, the bubbling waters. The salt of the water added to the effect. I calmed down a lot quicker than usual, and gave in with a sigh. I had to go talk to him.

The house was deadly quiet when I walked back in, kicking off my wet, soggy boots. I stopped for a moment to try and break through the silence, but there was nothing. With my feet plopping loudly on the floor, I headed for the hallway to the study. Ezio wasn't in there, of course, but that didn't matter. I grabbed for the book on the desk, finding that it was much heavier than I expected. Then I went back into the hall, to a door farther down than my own room, the bedroom Ezio slept in. The door was cracked open, so I poked my head in slowly, examining the room.

Ezio was sitting on the floor in front of a square mirror leaning against the wall. Beside him was a small bowl of water, and in his hand was a sharpened knife. Half of his face was bare.

He caught my gaze through the mirror, but he didn't say anything. I took a step into the room, the door creaking. "You're finally killing that thing?" My voice seemed off.

"Yeah." He pushed a long stroke up his cheek, leaving behind a smooth trail. "Do you need something?" I knew what that meant: need something? No? Otherwise, get out.

I didn't say anything, walking towards the bed and placing the book on the side table.

"Narina." I turned and looked at him, catching his eyes through the mirror.

I shrugged. "Can we talk?"

He sighed, clearing another stroke. "I don't want to." He seemed so distant.

My gut clenched, and I folded my hands together in my lap as I sat down on the bed. "I know it must seem that I'm being ungrateful," I began anyway.

"Narina, stop." Ezio put the knife down, done shaving. He stood from the floor and turned away from me. "We both know how this conversation ends every time."

"Then what?" I shot back. "Are we just supposed to argue about it every so often for the rest of our lives?"

"I don't know," he resigned, shaking his head.

When he still didn't look at me, I shifted my gaze back to the book that I had brought in. I reached out for it, grabbing onto the red spine, and pulled it towards me. Cradling it in my lap, I stared at the foreign words on the cover, nothing else on there, and I wondered just what kind of stories there was inside of it. "Ezio," I whispered, "will you read to me?"

It must have taken him off guard. He turned his head to look over his shoulder had me, brows furrowed, mouth dipping downwards.

I shrugged. "To pass the time? And so we don't fight for once?" He seemed hesitant to accept that offer, his eyes shifting back and forth from the book and me. I tried again, holding up the book towards him. "Please?"

Finally, he sighed, rubbed at his now smooth chin, and turned back, stepping to wards the bed. I was pleased that he was going to give this a chance. For the first time in...well, ever, he was the one more upset in a fight. It may have been a concern of mine but I didn't want to fight about it with him, especially after being alone for so long.

When he was settled next to me, he took the book from my lap. "Which one do you want to hear?" he mumbled, opening the cover.

"There's more than one?" I glanced down at the pages.

"It's a compilation of children stories from across the continent," he explained, throwing a glance at me. "Which one?"

"Whatever one you feel like—I can't read the titles anyway."

Ezio's eyes returned to the pages, his fingers flipping through the book. Then he opened it up to a story, the title spelled out at the top. He took a moment, staring at the foreign words, his mind in a far away place. Then he took a breath, and started reading. Maybe it was a bad idea to ask him to do so—perhaps it was bringing up memories of a family he no longer had. But he did it anyway, telling me a story of a young boy living on the edge of a sea, and one day, the young boy fell into the water.

"He was so scared," Ezio read, "that he didn't even realize that he was being taken back to the shore. When the boy was able to concentrate, sopping wet, he looked up and saw a beautiful woman before him, her skin blue and her eyes piercing. A sea nymph." Ezio paused. "She introduced herself as Narina."

I slowly looked up at Ezio, the surprise flowing through me. He didn't look back, his focus on the story as he continued. My attention was more on the story now as well, for it was hard for me to believe that this was the story that Federico spoke of so long ago. It ended in a rather happy manner, the young boy finding a friend that he had to keep secret, but one that would watch over him from the sea. Short and simple. But the fact that Ezio chose that story out of the others in the book was more complex.

After reading the last sentence, he closed the book, leaning over me to set it on the table. We didn't say anything, my mind still in the little world with Narina the sea nymph and the little country boy.

Ezio took in a breath. "That was Claudia's favorite story," he explained. "Every time Uncle Renato even mentioned the book, she would demand that the story of Narina would be read." A frown marred his face. "It's strange that she so readily accepted the name for you. Maybe she thought it fit you."

I smiled. "Well, it sounds like the story is flipped," I pointed out. "The little boy is now saving the sea nymph from drowning."

Slowly a smile appeared on his face too. "All because an evil beast named Pifo broke her fins and shoved her in the water."

"You!" I shoved at him, and he laughed, quickly standing from the bed and retreating to the other side of the room. It was good to see him smiling again, and I was glad that the tension was gone for the moment.

Ezio dramatically swung his arm in the air, like he was a bard with a grand tale. "The beast was considered small, but was quick and tricky! The nymph couldn't hope to survive. Luckily the boy had been tracking the beast, and was able to save the nymph."

"You forgot to mention that the reason the boy hadn't been there to save her before is because he let the nymph go," I put in, weaving my own tale into it. "The boy let her face the horrendous Pifo alone. There had been a human girl in his life, one that he had taken to." I stopped, realizing that I was treading into unsafe waters again. But it seemed right this time. "But the boy quickly realized that the nymph and her friendship, her life...they were all in his hands, and he had to save her from her own stupidity and bravado." A smile. "But mostly from Pifo."

He wasn't angry. But he just stared at me, taking in my own rendition of the story carefully into his mind. Then he slowly walked over, sitting next to me again, sighing and leaning back on his hands. "Do you think it would have turned out differently if I had followed after you immediately?"

"Eh, probably not," I admitted, looking up at him. We quietly sat for a long moment. "But I'm starting to realize something," I said softly. "I get myself into stupid situations, and I rely on you to be there to help me. And most of the time, you are. But what am I supposed to do when you don't show up? When Pifo does push me into the water and you're not there?"

"It's okay to depend on someone, Narina," Ezio pointed out, eyes flashing down at me.

"Ezio, that boy is going to grow up someday," I explained, "and he's going to find a wife and have kids. He'll forget Narina."

"Or maybe," he countered, voice calm but eyes swarming with emotion, "he will decide to stay and live by the seaside, visiting her every day for the rest of his life."

I laughed bitterly. "Do you really think that he would be willing to do that? Especially when so many women would come by his home and she would have to just sit there and watch as he threw smiles at them? All of his little suitors coming by, asking for his life, and he would invite them into his home that she could never step foot in because she had no goddamn feet to step with?"

A brow raised. "Aren't you thinking of mermaids?"

Exasperated, I waved my hand in the air. "Whatever. The point is that he would have a life that reached further away than the sea and the nymph. Why would he want to stay there his entire life just to visit her everyday? Just so, every night when he would leave the sea side, she could just sit there and sadly watch him go back to his house and his women?" I huffed, suddenly more worked up than I had realized, and I turned my face away.

I saw Ezio staring at me from the corner of my eye, his face blank. "If she wanted his smiles so badly, then why didn't she tell him?"

We sat for a long moment, the question hanging in the air, a lot riding on the answer. "...She was terrified," I whispered, "because he was the best goddamn thing that had ever happened to her."

My chest was constricted so tightly I thought it would burst. I felt like I couldn't breathe. There was just too much too quick. My hands were curled into my slacks, knuckles white, tendons raised high. "She was so stupid," I finished, letting my breath out all in the sentence.

His hand was at my neck, fingers threading through my hair as he held the back of my head, forcing me to look at him, his breathtaking eyes. His mouth was turned up into the softest smile ever, the scar barely noticeable in the light. "And so was he."

He drew me forward, mouth melding to mine. A hard, full kiss. He pulled away, looking into my eyes. "We need to argue like this more often. Putting it through other people makes it easier to deal with."

I smiled, laughed, and nodded. "Pifo is quite the tension breaker."

"And I think you should know," Ezio said, putting his arm around me, "that the boy always thought of that blue-skinned nymph whenever he would smile at those women."

I snorted, not believing that for a moment. Wave a slab of meat in front of a lion and that meat would consume that lion. But it was a nice sentiment.

His hand at the small of my back pulled me closer to him, his mouth finding mine again. The air was cleared, and it felt good to know what both of our points were. My arms snaked up around him, threading into his short hair, the difference almost welcomed. We sat there for a long moment, me tucked up against him, his arms holding me tight as the kisses grew more and more sloppy. But then he was leaning me back, splaying me out on the bed, maneuvering so that he was over me.

My stomach felt as though a lead ball had settled in. "Ezio," I started, feeling my face heat up.

"What?" His hands were around my wrists, holding me down, his smirk anything but sincere.

I couldn't deny him. I knew that it was impossible. And the strange things happening inside of me didn't make it easy to want to deny him. But I still tried. "It...it's daytime."

"And?" He leaned down, putting his lips to my ear. "We're all alone in this big house," he whispered, his breath hot on my neck.

My stomach was doing acrobatic flips, making me feel nearly nauseated. But there was no hiding the excitement, the rush that I was getting out of his husky voice. I swallowed back what tasted like fear, and opened my mouth to say something. But the only thing that made it out was a hushed sigh, billowing fires deep inside. But I was drowning, everything building up, my mind racing for any sense.

And I knew that Ezio was the only one who could save me.

* * *

**And that's all for now. God, imagine how long this would have been had there been smut? Gah.**

**Speaking of which, I don't have the smut written out. I probably won't for a long while. Smut and me have our good days, and today isn't one of them. I have a feeling I won't have one for a long while. If a few of you bug me about it for a while, I'll probably get it done. :3**

**Anyway, there's that. Yeah. That. I like bringing in things from the past chapters, like Ezio's uncle's house, and also the story of Narina's name. That was fun to do, which is why this was probably written so quickly.**

**But I have a bunch of papers to write this week for school, and I wasted my entire weekend playing Mass Effect AGAIN. :I Damn me and my obsessions.**

**So yeah. Sorry if the chapter sucked—they lack when I write them in such a fast time. But there's some Ezio and Narina for ya. There's going to be more of them in the chapters to come, and I'm super excited.**

**And if you're not a big fan of the continuation of this story, "The View From Up Here", you really should be. I don't think anyone really realizes how much I love that story. And only the writer and I really know what's in store for all of you, and let me tell ya, you are in for one hell of a ride! :) Be a darling and check it out!**

**Thanks for the read and review!**


	21. Little Luxuries

**-A romantic filler chapter. I feel like this story has lacked a bit in romance shit compared to the first version. So this was for shits and giggles. EzioXNarina lovin' is always nice.**

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**Chapter 21**

**Little Luxuries**

* * *

There was hell tearing up in the sky, kicking up dark storm clouds. Thunder. Rain. A storm. The darkness was swallowing me, the tall shadows looming, threatening, reaching out to me. Everything was spinning, but my path was the only sturdiness in it all. Fear was gripping my heart, but it wasn't from the shadows. I was pushing them away, prying through them. Through the spinning darkness, my eyes were pinned on a platform, huge and foreboding. On it stood three figures, standing in a way so it was from tallest to shortest. The Auditores. But I couldn't move fast enough—the rain had turned the ground to mud, sucking me in. But I fought through, finally pushing through the last of the shadows, stumbling down to the ground. I desperately pushed myself up, not wanting to be swallowed by it all. I had to save them. I staggeringly stood up, leaning against the platform, the rain slicking my hair in my eyes. When I looked back to see if the shadows were about to consume me, I saw no shadows, but a sea of red. Blood. Bodies. Death. Ready to swallow me, chasing after me. I quickly went back to the platform, reaching up to grip onto the edge. But I stopped and stared. The three figures had disappeared and only one remained. A dark haired man with hair of night, dark dazed eyes and sun kissed skin. Only one word came to my mind. One name.

_ Malik_.

I woke up with a start, gasping silently for a gulp of air. My eyes darted around the dark room, landing on the window, dim night light making the glass seemingly glow from the walls. Rain was pelting against the glass in the same pattern as my heartbeat.

Malik. Who was Malik? Why was I dreaming of a man named Malik? I rubbed my eyes, shivers running down my spine when a image of the sea of blood came back. It was so red...

There was a movement behind me and I glanced over my shoulder. A dark figure lay next to me, rising and falling in an even rhythm. His chest was bare, dusted with hair that slimmed down the line of his torso. One of his arms was stretched over his face, covering his eyes, his scarred lips parted as even breaths fell through. His other arm was trapped under me, hooked under my waist.

Careful so not to wake him, I quietly sat up, the sheets under me rustling. Putting my legs over the edge of the bed, I sat and stared out at the rain, my mind already losing slivers of the dream.

Malik. Why did it sound so familiar?

My stomach broke my reverie, growling out loudly. There was no getting back to sleep, so I decided that I could go for a midnight snack. Finding my clothes, however, deemed impossible in the lack of light, so I instead used the discarded blanket deposited on the floor, wrapping it around my shoulders. Once I had stumbled through the house and had found something to eat. I made my way back to the bedroom.

I walked in and found Ezio sitting up in bed, hair a mess, tired golden eyes pinned on me. A large smile appeared. "_Salute_."

"_Salute_" I smiled back, suddenly bashful as my stomach fluttered with butterflies.

"Mind sharing the blanket? It's cold."

"Oh, I can see that."

When he gave me a harsh look, I only smiled. Then I went to him and he pulled me down onto the bed, into his lap. His hands pried into my cocoon of warmth, finding my skin, his cold fingers leaving electric trails wherever they touched. It was all a pleasant blur, really: my legs falling around his hips, his hands running up my back, mouth at my neck. It was crazy how quick the spark ignited, how my bodily humors came to life and my cheeks flushed from more than shyness. I lost hold of the rain, the dream, the man naked Malik among our breaths, our touches. For all I cared, it was just Ezio and I in the entire world.

* * *

My next wake up was much more pleasant, not driven to force from a terror. The rain had stopped by morning, but when I peeked through my dark lashes, I saw that the skies were still gray. The nice part was Ezio's lips at my ear, whispering soft words. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn't Italian, but instead French. God, that was sexy, the way the foreign words rolled off of his tongue. I didn't even care if he was calling me dirty names—it sounded so sensual. I ended up smiling warmly, eyes closed, humming in pleasure as I pressed back into his strong hold, the haven of his arms, skin brushing against skin.

One of the fluid sentences came to a slow, breathy end, my name weaved into the words in a low, dark voice. Oh, the things his voice did to me! It was with no shame that I admitted to myself that Ezio had figured out how to play me. Or maybe he had known all along and was now just letting his fingers pluck the strings.

His soft lips were at my neck, pressing kisses and foreign words to my skin. I was tempted to turn around in his hold and wrap myself around him once more, surprised by how I was never sated. But then the words began to make sense, transforming into Italian. "You should go get me breakfast," he murmured like he was saying sweet nothings in my ear.

But the magic was lost.

"Get it yourself. I'm not your slave," I grumbled, rolling away and dropping off the edge of the bed, landing on my feet.

"Please?" he whined as I stood up.

"I'm going to go get my own food." I found my breeches crumpled by the wardrobe across the room, and I stepped into them and pulled them on, going on a search for my shirt. "You can come with or starve. Your choice."

"You drive a hard bargain," Ezio muttered, laying back on the bed, sighing. "I guess I have no choice, then. The real question now is whether I get dressed or not..." The suggestion trailed off and when I turned to look at him, he had the silliest, most suggestive smirk.

I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head and turning away. "I don't know. It is still pretty cold."

It was meant to be a jab at him, but he only smirked and replied, "I can tell."

Aware of his meaning, I turned around, embarrassed and finding the salvation of my shirt at the end of the bed. As I fished the shirt over my head, I heard him crawl off the bed, his footsteps plopping on the floor. I let the material hang loose around my hips, not wanting to try and find my belt.

I suddenly stopped, becoming insanely aware of Ezio's presence behind me. I heard the material brushing against his skin, the way his breaths fell from his lips. For some strange reason, it all rendered me motionless, my eyes pinned on the wall.

What was supposed to be said? I wasn't stupid enough to think that it had been just a fuck—no, there _was_ something between Ezio and I. But what, exactly? And would I be satisfied with whatever it was? How much did I want, exactly? I knew I was in deep, far deeper than Ezio was.

A jump jolted my body when his hands landed on my shoulders, running down my arms slowly. I felt his chin press against the top of my head, his body bumping up against mine. I closed my eyes.

"What are you hungry for?" He asked in a whisper, hands entangling with mine.

I swallowed back the knot forming in my throat. "Ah, just some...fruit and bread, I guess."

"No feast?" His head dropped, his clean shaven jaw brushing against my cheek.

"No feast." My fingers tightened around his. "Just...something simple sounds perfect."

"Indeed." He moved away, turning me towards him. I didn't know what he was about until his bent his knees slightly, one arm going to my waist as his shoulder nudged at my hand. Putting my arm around his shoulder, he allowed his other arm to go around my knees, lifting me up into his arms. We both knew that my legs weren't broken and that I could walk just fine. But we didn't say anything, aside from my pleased hums, as he carried me through the house.

Once we were in the dining hall, he carried me to the table and set me on the polished surface, my legs dangling over the edge. Warmth fell from him and cascaded over me as he leaned forward, pressing his forehead against mine so that he could stare into my eyes. His golden irises were filled with so much intensity, so much loving warmth that I nearly felt the need to sob. Perhaps he had looked at his other women in such a way, but it melted away my insecurities. I was the only woman right then, and that was the important factor.

"You seem troubled," he murmured after a moment of gazing into the very depths of my soul. "Is it because of last night?"

"No," I lied, my eyes dropping, the security scattered.

Of course, he wasn't convinced. "Look at me." I did almost reluctantly so, despite how beautiful I thought his eyes were. "Narina," he said expectantly, and I realized how irritating it was to be in love my best friend.

My eyes closed as my body shook. There it was in words. Love. I had always known it, but I hadn't accepted it. "I don't know," I whispered, but he lightly conked his forehead against mine before I could continue.

"Look at me," he repeated. He was making this insanely difficult. When I did look up, his brow was furrowed, scarred lips pulled into a small pout. "What's on your mind?"

I took a deep breath, but made sure to stay staring into his eyes, the color making my insides turn to mush. "I'm just...wondering something."

His hands landed on mine. "_Si_?"

"I just...well..." When had it gotten so hard to talk with him? "This whole thing. What will it change?"

"Change?" He made it sound as if it were a foreign concept.

"Between us. I mean...what was it, exactly?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, simply staring intently. Finally he said, "What was it to you?"

I frowned. "That's not a fair question. You know what it was for me."

"Do I?" He smiled despite my opposite expression. "Tell me anyway. It would be nice to hear it for once."

Strange chagrin washed over me, and I glanced down again. "I just want to know if it was...more for you."

"Oh?"

"You aren't going to throw me aside like the others, are you?"

He actually started to laugh. Laugh! Leaning away, he was shaking his head like he was in utter disbelief. "Are you stupid?" He asked between chuckles.

My cheeks flushed with anger. "What is that supposed to mean? You know last night meant everything to me, that I would never trust anyone else anyway! God dammit, stop laughing!"

"Ah, _mi dispiace_, my sea nymph; you are just being absolutely absurd!" He leaned away, taking a step back. "Fruit is what you wanted, right?" He turned on his heel, heading towards the back kitchen.

I was panicked—no, that is not the right word. Furious. Bewildered. Terrified. "Ezio!" I cried out, exasperated and desperate to hear his truth. He was surprised by some tone in my voice and he turned back abruptly, all traces of teasing gone. Please, please tell me I wasn't alone. "I know this isn't a big deal for you," I reminded him, my voice off, "but now you have to tell me: was it more than just another conquest?"

Ezio was completely serious this time, actually looking surprised that I was asking the question again. When he smiled just as before, though, I felt the need to scream—I didn't want his charming words. I needed the truth. He walked back to the table, leaning over me again as his breath caressed my face. Kissing me once, he said in a soft voice, "You will always be mine, Narina."

"And?" I leaned away, not being persuaded by his deep voice. "What does that mean? Dumb it down for stupid little Narina, would you?"

It was actually almost fun to watch Ezio squirm, to force him to say the right words. He was smart though, thinking about his answer carefully, taking his time. "Last night meant..." he paused. "It meant a lot."

My eyes closed, thinking that maybe he felt intimidated by my gaze. "How much?" I pressed, almost smiling, turning his little game on him.

His hands went to my face, holding me steady as his mouth molded to mine again and again. "More than ever," he murmured. "I promise. You're my best friend—you always will be."

I pressed my lips together, stopping the string of kisses. "So, that's it? Friends with benefits?"

"Narina." My name made my eyes open, and I gazed into his eyes. One of his hands twisted back into my hair, our foreheads bumping together. "You know there's more to it and you know that neither of us can put a word to it."

Sure I could. Mine word was love. But what was his?

I suddenly didn't want to know anymore, knowing that my heart was on the verge of being shattered. I hoped for too much.

"I know." I pressed a kiss into his lips, then squirmed aside. "Let's eat—I'm starved."

He stepped away, allowing me room to jump down off of the table. Before I could move around him, he stopped me, blocking me from my path to the kitchen. "Stay. I can get it," he offered, hand at my stomach.

We stared at each other, his face seemingly worn from our conversation. Despite his clean shaven face, he looked older, tired. I guessed that he was emotionally drained, not having to go through such discussion since Cristina. The name made me look down, away from his gaze. Those thoughts would have to come later—not now, when the day was still so young and my chest was filled with such warmth. "_Grazie_," I murmured.

"Narina," he muttered, hands going to my shoulders. "Please." I glanced up. Please? Please what? I opened my mouth to try and convince him that it would be fine. He cut me off by pressing another kiss to my mouth "I'll get the fruit," he said, backing away and heading to the kitchen. I stood there for a long moment, leaning back against the table, the rain pelting against the window just across the room.

* * *

"Want to go for a horse ride?" Ezio asked as I stood to go throw the remains of our fruits out the window.

"It's raining," I reminded him. "I don't want to get all wet and cold just to get sick again."

He remained at the table as I went to the window, opening the shutters to a persistent beating of rain. Quickly dropping the scraps, I closed the window and went back to the table. Ezio was turned in his seat, staring at me intently. "Then what should we do?"

We had spent most of breakfast discussing what kind of things Ezio used to do at the house as a child. Since we were much too old to not feel silly playing pretend and the sky was pouring, all that there really was to do was read books. Despite the dreary day, reading didn't sound like much fun.

I stood behind him, folding my arms. "Let's go play on the beach," I said, the thought falling right from my lips.

Ezio lifted a brow. "But it's raining. And the sea is probably rough—we'll be sprayed or swept into the tide."

He was right. I thought for a moment longer before I smiled. "Well, let's go run around a bit in the rain until we're cold, and then we can use that as an excuse to make a fire and get all cozy and warm."

He looked as though he were about to object, but stopped and smiled. "Good idea." He gave me no choice, launching to his feet, flinging me up over his shoulder as he carried me through the house. "Aren't we going to at least dress warmer?" I asked, seeing that he was skipping the hallway to our rooms.

"And get more clothes wet than necessary?"

I tried to pout, but a laugh overpowered the expression. "I suppose you are right," I admitted as he swung open the door, a rush of cold air swirling around us. "Although it will not be my fault if you get a cold!" The smell of the rain and mud overwhelmed my senses as Ezio walked down from the door, into the pelting rain. He didn't go to the shore, for the waves were jumping high, so he took us out by the road. Before he even sat me down, I was near soaked. My bare feet buried themselves into the mud, the goo squishing between my toes, cold water creating puddles in the craters of our steps.

When I looked up at my assassin, I laughed outright, seeing that his hair had been wet enough to hang down in front of his eyes, making him look like a drowned cat. At my teasing laugh, Ezio grinned evilly, bending down to scoop up a handful of mud. I knew exactly where that was going, and I turned and made a run for it, through the slashing rain, ignoring the coldness of it all. The mud clod caught me right in the back, though, stinging a little, but I was already too numb to feel the worst of it. As I reached for my own handful, I saw that I had already splattered mud up my legs, my breeches spotted with dark spots. Turning, I chucked the good sized mud blot right at Ezio, who had advanced after me. It hit him square in his face, and, although I laughed for a sudden moment, I rushed forward, spewing my apologies. But as I stepped forward, Ezio wiping slowly at his eyes to peel off the mud from his vision, I saw the playful spark in his eyes. I couldn't make a retreat though, and he lunged at me, knocking us down to the watery, muddy ground.

Mud water got in my eyes, momentarily blinding me as Ezio and I rolled around in a fight for the win. Flipping him over on his back, I pinned him down to the ground, and for once, he didn't fight back, giving the battle to me. With his huge wrists in my hands, I stared down at him, breathing in the exertion, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much.

Ezio was smiling back at me, soft yet touching his eyes. His skin was prickled in goosebumps, his chest bare and only clothing soaked clean through, clinging to his body and leaving nothing to the imagination. Not that I needed imagination anyway. From our wrestling match, he was nearly covered in mud, his skin painted a charming dirt brown, but quickly being washed away in lines from the rain drops.

I sat there for a long time, straddling him, shirt soaked so that the white was completely see through, my thumbs rubbing patterns on his skin, searching his eyes for some hidden truth that I didn't know I was searching for.

His hands broke from mine easily and he held my waist as he sat up effortlessly, making my weight shift to my core as I settled in his lap. With my fingers trailing down his dirty arms, I gave him a small pout. "Why must we always get so dirty during a rain storm?"

"I don't know for sure," he replied, smiling. "Maybe because the rain can wash it all away, too."

I quirked my head. "Good point."

He leaned his head forward, pressing his lips to my muddy cheek, his hands traveling up my back slowly. I brushed the wet hair from his brow, the droplets of water trickling down my arm. Shivers ran up my spine as his tongue flattened against my neck, the warmth of his breath mixing with the coldness of the rain.

"We should get inside," I managed to say, rolling my eyes when I saw his pout. "Before we get sick."

He sighed like he was giving up some great opportunity, but he helped me get on my slippery feet. With an arm around my shoulders, mine around his waist, we made our way back towards the house.

In the main sitting room of the house, Ezio knelt to spark a fire to life, taking only moments with the broken chair from the night before as the kindling. I was shivering where I stood, a puddle forming around me as my hair hung in dark, heavy slabs around my shoulders. When the fire roared to life in the hearth, I immediately surged forward, holding my hands out to the flames.

Ezio stood next to me, breathing a heavy sigh. "The simplest things are, as I am finding, truly the best."

"Aren't they?" I smirked. "Little luxuries are often the most satisfying."

"Oh?" His hand was at my shoulder, turning me towards him. As I faced him, his other hand reached forward, clamping into the front of my soaked shirt. "Then let's get you undressed."

I laughed. "Did you just call yourself a '_little_ luxury'?"

He gave me an innocent look. "We need to hang your clothes up to dry—and so that you can warm your skin from the fire."

"Oh." I hid my smile, seeing what game he was playing. Without much more of an invitation, he lifted the shirt up over my head, tucked it under his bare arm, and then stepped forward to help me step out of my breeches. I tried not to seem shy, but it was odd standing in the open naked while Ezio spread out the clothes in front of the hearth. I was even more bashful when he dropped his own drawers, flopping them by mine. Then he shook out his dark hair, sending droplets everywhere as he swung his head back and forth. "God," I laughed, dodging the spray. "You're like a dog!"

"Like Pifo?" he asked with a laugh, touching at the short spike of his chopped hair.

"I guess so." I smirked. "You sometimes irritate me enough to be so."

"Ouch." He reached out for me and I met him halfway, finding that security and confidence in his strong arms, his warmth. One hand rested on my head, the other at the small of my back, holding me to his chest as he slowly rocked us back and forth. Our skin was slick, sliding against each other as I reached up around his neck, holding so tightly onto him as he kissed my skin.

His hands slid down my back, creating blazing trails of fire. "This is more," he whispered in the spot just below my ear. "I promise, Narina."

"I know." My fingers ran through his already drying hair. I didn't care about what it meant anymore. Total lie, of course, but I didn't want to worry about it right then, because I knew that, being alone in that house with the best friend that anyone could have, being in love with him—it was as good as it was going to get. I would worry about the details later and worry about feelings and meanings. If I gave it time, it would work itself out. For now, it would be a simple luxury.

* * *

**Okay, before you all kill me because this took so damn long for such a short chapter, understand that life has been hectic and I've been in the shittiest writing moods ever lately.**

**And, one other thing, this chapter was pulled completely out of my ass, alright? It was basically a filler chapter. But I've already explained that in the top Author's comments. The only thing in this chapter that really relates to the plot is the dream sequence at the beginning.**

**ANYWAY! An update, if any of you care:**

**These past few weeks, my friends Tyler and Tad (the same Tad that I talk about in the first chapter) have asked me to be their roommates for next year, which is super awesome. We went apartment/house shopping last Friday, and, I shit you not, we found the perfect place to live next year! We move in the 1st of April! :D I'm getting out on my own, guys, and it's literally making me want to piss myself from the excitement and the sheer terror of it!**

**Also, I am still madly in love with Mass Effect. No regrets.**

**Well, anyway...**

**Special thanks to a friend of mine, Alphastorm07, who is writing an awesome Assassin's Creed Modern AU with Desmond. Check it out! He's a sweetheart and deserves the love! :)**

**Thanks for the read! Please review!**

**-Mismatch-lover**


	22. Dig it Up

**FIRST OF ALL: I would like to apologize for the long, long, long wait that I put you all through. School is a bitch. I moved into a new place, so that has sucked up a lot of time. Second of all, I fell out of this story for the longest of times. I'm not even entirely sure what got me back on it, but I finished this chapter! Crazy even to me! I might start it up again, but no real promises.**

**I would also like to apologize if I didn't reply to your review the last chapter. I lost track of who I did and who I didn't and yeah. I'm lazy.**

**Most of my writing has been contributed to my own personal stories that I'm super excited to be writing on. My friend, ZetaAdele, and I are working on a Mass Effect fic, but I don't think it'll be posted anywhere. Just a little guilty pleasure, really.**

**And moving. It has kicked my ass. I love my roommates, though—they be awesome!**

**But here you go! Long wait worth it? I guess you'll have to see for yourself!**

* * *

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**Chapter 22**

**Dig it Up**

* * *

Our clothes that I had taken the time to scrub the night before were well dried when we dressed in the bright morning light. The storm had passed and the sea was slowly turning from the gray color to the calming blue hue. With one last look at the huge house, Ezio and I saddled up the horse and clamored on, ready to head back home. Ezio settled me between his legs upon the horse. We rode along the sea side long enough for the house to disappear behind the rolling hills. I felt some sort of loss once the grand house was out of sight.

"We will be back, won't we?"

"Of course," Ezio replied. "Next summer or maybe this winter. Southern Italy is slightly warmer in the winters."

I said nothing but hoped with all my heart.

* * *

We spent the entire, bright day riding upon the horse, my thighs nearly rubbed raw. The only factor that made it all bearable were the occasional times where Ezio would lean forward and would whisper in my ear and kiss my hair. I was a fool in love, but I didn't care. It made me happy, which was as good as it was going to get. The first night we camped out by a small stream, staring up at the stars like we had when we were younger.

The closer we came to Monteriggioni, the more unsettled I became, the more reality came back. Ezio had only killed Lucio—the other men surely would come after me. And what if they followed us to Monteriggioni? I would be upset if the others got caught up in my problems. Ezio seemed at ease, satisfied with Lucio's death as proof enough there wouldn't be anymore trouble. But I knew better. The closer I got to reality, the more uneasy I felt. I had to find the answers. I wouldn't be caught off guard the next time they came. Because they would come again. And again. Again. I was in a battle that would last forever.

The realization startled me. I could never get away. I could avoid and dodge the battle for a period of time, but it would always come back. Suddenly unsettled, I couldn't even feel the joy when Rome came into view, Ezio's enthusiasm of the city charming. I had never been to the city before, and we stayed there for the rest of the night and day, finding a place to stay. We left early the next morning and had our sights set on Monteriggioni.

The events of the previous week or so seemed so hazy and distant as we rode up to the small city, the towering Villa upon the hill, peeking over the city walls. The sun was heading for the western mountains, burning orange on the horizon. When we stopped by the stables, the stable-hand only offered a small smile and a 'welcome back'. It seemed strange that they hadn't known that Ezio and I had literally been dragged across the entire country.

Even when we entered the Villa, coming face to face with Claudia and Maria talking in the front room, they didn't seem very concerned at all.

"How was your trip?" They asked with big hugs and smiles. "You were gone for quite some time!"

Ezio then began to explain how our trip to Florence had shifted to a trip to Venice, what had happened there, and he planned our enemy to move next. He didn't mention my kidnapping, which I thought was strange. "I must talk with Uncle," Ezio concluded, gaze lifting up. "Is he in his office?"

"Yes." Claudia concluded. "He's looking over some documents that were delivered earlier this morning." Ezio took his leave then, nodding to his mother as he planted a soft kiss to her cheek. I stared after him, his hood lowered. Why wasn't he telling them? Perhaps he thought the problem to be over so it didn't matter to tell them. I still felt unsettled. Something about it all wasn't sitting right with me.

"When did he cut his hair?" Claudia's question cut through my contemplations, and I glanced up at her, finding her warm smile.

"Er...While we were...in Venice," I lied. Maybe Ezio just didn't want his family to worry about it. I didn't want them tangled up in my mess, anyway, so maybe it was all for the best.

"You look a little...tired Narina," Maria pointed out, reaching out to me. I felt safe as she touched my shoulder, but it didn't ease the tension.

"I went through a small fever on the trip," I said, smiling. "I'm a little worn down from that."

"Perhaps you should sleep, then."

"Ah, yes, but I was thinking of eating first. I'm craving for a good meal."

* * *

Once I ate with them, discussing the sights of Venice, I mentioned Ezio's seasickness, which made Maria laugh under her breath. I took the moment then to ask her if her brother was still around, saying Ezio had mentioned him.

"Oh, yes! Renato is still alive—he and his wife moved farther south years ago when the kids were still young."

"Ezio mentioned a sea-side house," I said, the image of the beach the fancy decorated rooms coming to mind. "Does Renato still own it?"

"Ah, the sea-side house!" Claudia grinned widely. "I loved that place when I was a child! I remember tiny details only, but they are some of the best!"

"We didn't spend much time there," Maria admitted, "but I can't imagine him actually selling the place. I'll write him, if you are curious."

"Yes," I replied with a grin. "Ezio was just wondering if we should all take a small vacation down there every summer if Renato still owned it."

"That would be wonderful," Maria concluded. "I'll write him as soon as I am able—it's been years!"

"Thank you," I said, nodding. "It'll be a nice break for all of us."

"I'll go start the message right now, actually." Maria stood from the table. "It's good to have you home, Narina."

"Yeah." I smiled. "It is." Maria didn't even know the half of it. Claudia left then, too, following her mother out of the dining hall, leaving me to gather all the plates together for one of the servants to pick up later. I stood there for a long moment, alone in the dining room, suddenly feeling distant from even the familiar Monteriggioni. What else was lying in wait out there for me to find? What was I hiding from myself?

I had no leads, other than figuring out where Brindisi was and seeing if it had any information there. To figure it all out, I would probably have to ask a scholar or go to a store with many books. Mario's office, though, would have to be the starting point—he had many books, and one of them had to as least mention Brindisi.

When I walked into Mario's bright, wide office, the door down to the Sanctuary was open, and little hums of Ezio and Mario's voices could be heard floating up the stairs. Smiling to myself, I began looking over Mario's tall shelves, looking for anything that involved the geography of Italy. As I was browsing, the voices rose up from the Sanctuary and the two Auditore men came walking into the room, engrossed in conversation. They didn't seem to notice me, so I tuned out their words and continued my search.

After a minute, I heard Mario's voice cut through my concentration. "Oh, Narina! I didn't notice you standing there! What are you looking for?"

"Just a book." If Ezio didn't want his family knowing what had happen, I'd have to keep Brindisi a secret.

"I have plenty!" Mario boasted, coming up next to me and clapping me on my shoulder. "What are you looking for, exactly?"

I worried at my bottom lip, casting a gaze over the ocean of titles. "Something on...Italy's geography."

"Geography?" Mario's brow quirked incredulously.

"_Si_." I ran an absent hand through my hair, my mind rushing to find some explanation. "I...want to find out where I want to visit someday. Now that Venice is out of the way, I'll have to find another."

"Would you like a map?"

"I'd prefer something that describes places," I admitted, turning to him slowly.

Mario stroked at his face, humming under his breath. Over his shoulder I spotted Ezio's brows furrowed curiously at me, like he wasn't entirely sure what I was up to. Mario left my side, his eyes scouring all over the wall of books, darting about as if he were trying to remember where he had once placed a book.

"Aha!" His hand darted out for a thick book, pulling it out of its place as he plopped it down on the table. Grinning widely, I went to the desk and looked down on the cover, reading "_History of Italy_". "It may not have what you want, exactly," Mario admitted, "but it might have some history on some interesting locations. Try it out."

"Thank you, Mario." I plucked up the book, beaming down on the worn leather. "I'm going to go look through it right now!"

I exited the room, heading to my bedroom and planning scanning through the entire book to find any word on Brindisi. I flung on the bed, cracking on the book and finding myself fall in love with the smell of the accumulated dust. It made me feel as though I were holding something precious and ancient, powerful with its knowledge.

* * *

Thirty minutes could not have passed by before I heard a knock on the door. The futile attempt of finding the name _Brindisi_ in the text was making my smile droop. Discouraged, I glanced up to the door. "Come in."

A rush of air flowed into the room as Ezio stepped in, his scent nearly masking over everything. "Hey," I greeted, lowering the book to my lap.

Dressed down again, Ezio looked really good in common clothes. His eyes went around the room. "What are you doing?"

My brow furrowed. "Reading." I gestured to the book.

"No, what are you doing _in here_?"

"Um." I glanced around, taking in the familiar room, the long curtains and dark wood floors. "This is my room."

Ezio's mouth twisted into a half grin, charming and sexy as hell. "No, it isn't."

_Keep your _head_ on straight, Narina. You still have to go through the rest of this book! _"What are you talking about?"

"You, my sea nymph, are a little dense in the head."

My cheeks puffed out in mock annoyance as he stepped closer, lifting a knee to rest on the edge of my bed. My breath fell from my lips, and my knees immediately drew up to my chest. "What are you doing?"

"Come now, Narina." He was crawling on the bed towards me, grin too lazy and attractive, scent suddenly overwhelming. "Don't you want to come join me in _our_ bed?"

"Ezio," I protested, my face flooded with head and my heart thudding too fast.

"'Ezio' what?" He crawled over me easily, his huge figure looming over mine, trapping me. His face came closer to mine, lips ghosting mine. I tensed, wanting to keep my focus, but wanting to taste him as well. My knees were touching his chest as he leaned over me, the book tucked up against my stomach. "Narina?" He pressed a kiss to my lips, making my heart stutter.

His heat enveloped me, surrounding me and protecting me from the terror that I was trying to track down. Within just a few kisses, I had forgotten about my goal, focused more clearly on the way Ezio's mouth moved against mine. I hummed in my throat, ultimately deciding that this new step Ezio and I had taken was well worth the confusion. His hand slithered into my hair, tangling in the threads. With a tug, my head was held back, Ezio's hot, wet mouth on my neck.

I shivered. "Ezio..."

"Tell me," he answered, breath running across my skin, "why you're looking at geography books, hm?"

"I imagine you have a much more _fun_ activity," I purred, his tongue flattening at the base of my throat.

"Indeed." His smile pressed into my skin. "But tell me why you want to know where you want to go."

Suddenly the kisses weren't so mind-boggling, and I leaned away, making him look up at me. I frowned at him. "I didn't want to say anything to Mario considering you're not telling anyone else. But I want to figure out why they were taking me to Brindisi."

Ezio sighed, leaning back more. "Narina, don't worry about it. Lucio is dead—the threat is over."

I was shaking my head before he was done. "No, the threat isn't. Lucio wasn't the only one looking for me, I know it! He was too young to be at the head of it all."

"Narina, you're just one woman—what kind of a brigade would need to be rounded up to capture _you_?"

My brow dented and a tight knot formed in my chest. Folding my arms, I continued, "Don't you at least want to know _why_? Why they insisted on taking me?"

"They probably work for the Templars—they were planning on taking you for ransom, no doubt."

"Uh, actually, a lot of doubt. If it weren't for Rosa finding Antonio and her telling you, you would have had no idea where I was."

"They would have sent me a message," Ezio snapped back, quick as ever, "demanding for money or information or whatever it is that they want."

"Lucio told me they don't work for the Templars."

Ezio scoffed. "And you believed him?" He was reaching for the book in my lap. "Forget about it, Narina—the threat is over and you're safe now. The past is past, and leave it where it lies."

"No!" My hand shot out, ripping the book back. "From day one, I've been told who to be. I want to know who I was—who I actually am!"

"Narina," Ezio said in a calmer tone, trying to reason with me, "Let's both be honest right now—we _like_ the way Narina is. You're perfect the way you are. As soon as you figure out what you used to be, _this-_" he pointed at me "-is going to change. You won't be Narina."

I saw the issue. Narina had been the one to be accepted into the family. The one who stayed by his side through thick and thin. Narina was the one who loved him, even if he wasn't entirely aware of it. But still...

"Can I just learn about Brindisi?" I asked, begging. "Not digging too far, I promise. I'm just curious."

"Fine." He was reaching for the book again. "But later. I have other plans." I let him take the book, watching as he placed it on the side table. I hated lying to Ezio. I wanted to figure out everything and I would dig as far as I could.

My face was seized and my lips possessed by Ezio's enchanting whispers and kisses. One of his hands took a hold of my knee, pushing is softly to request that I spread them. The other hand was pulling out the pillows from behind me, tugging them to the floor. Once I was flat on my back, he opted to spread my knees for me, settling in between them as my legs hooked around his hips.

The searing kisses moved down to my throat, making my mind scatter and a pulsating desire to form. A moan rose from my mouth, my eyes rolling into the back of my head as his tongue pressed against my collarbone. I felt so secure in his arms. Even the threats of Lucio's men and Brindisi weren't enough to make me nervous. His hands were moving up my shirt, hands on my skin, leaving trails of fire.

"Narina, I-."

Ezio and I snapped our gazes to the door, finding a rather surprised Maria.

"Oh." Her hand went to the door knob. "Sorry, I...should have knocked." Even as the door closed, I saw the flash of her pleased smile.

My hands fell from around Ezio's shoulders and I covered my face, the blush warming my cheeks further. "_Jesu _Maria."

Ezio was laughing deep in his chest. "Ah, they were to figure out sooner or later. Come, let us go to our room."

I liked the way he said "our room". His arms went around me, my arms around him. He lifted me up from the bed, my legs wrapped around his torso. With his hands supporting me by my ass, he carried me out of the room and through the Villa to his room, the entire way his lips pressed to my neck. When I caught a glance of a mortified Claudia frozen in her bedroom door, I couldn't help but start giggling, my hands running through his short, thick hair.

Despite who I might have been before I met Ezio, I think I would want to stay with him anyway.

* * *

As Ezio trained with the newly recruited mercenaries, I scoured through the book, finally finding a small mentioning of Brindisi, but that was it. Just a simple statement that explained it was a port town. Huffing, I knew that I wouldn't find anything that I wanted in Mario's small selection. I would have to go to a town, find a library of sorts. There had to be information somewhere.

As my mind traveled to the cities, the thoughts turned to our friends that lived in those cities. Paola, La Volpe, Antonio, Leonardo...surely they knew what secrets Brindisi held. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

Excited, I put the book back in Mario's office, and ran out to the training court. "Ezio!" I beckoned, leaning against the railing, making him turn his attention away from the novice. "Let's go to Florence!"

"Florence?" He waved off the man, calling for a break. "We just got home."

It had only been a week since we had been back to Monteriggioni. I couldn't really blame him for not wanting to travel. "I know. But don't you think it's time we visited Paola and La Volpe?"

"They're busy, I'm sure." He approached me, standing so close to me that I could smell his sweat and feel his warmth. "Let's stay home," he murmured, running a clammy hand across my face.

I pouted. "But I...I want to see them."

His brow quirked, noticed my hesitation and the way my eyes shifted. "Narina," he said expectantly, hand dropping.

An impish grin came to my lips, and I leaned away. "I want to look at the libraries there. See if I can find anything on Brindisi. Mario's book didn't have-."

"No," he immediately said, something flashing in his eyes. Fear?

My grin fell, brow furrowing. "But Ezio-."

"No." The finality in his voice irritated me.

I heaved my chest out, straightening my shoulders. "I say yes."

His eyes narrowed. "You told me you only wanted to find out a little. Going to Florence to a library seems like more then finding a little."

"So?" I folded m y arms. "What's so wrong about wanting to know about a city? You're being silly."

"What was in Mario's book?"

"It just said what I already knew—that it's a port town."

"Then that is enough." Ezio mimicked my stance. "Let it rest."

Finally tired of his stubbornness, I decided to dish up a healthy dose of my own. "No. I won't. I want to know more, and you can't stop me."

His jaw locked, sensing the challenge. "Narina, we have work to do. We can't be running around looking at books about things that don't matter."

"No, _you_ have work to do!" I snapped, vaguely noticing the recruit staring wide-eyed at us. "Just because you're an assassin doesn't make me one too!"

A small pause—only enough to allow me to catch my breath. "You may not be an assassin," Ezio retorted, "but you've stuck with me through it! Why throw it all away for something that is not there?"

"Because it _is_ there!" I flung my hands in the air. "God, Ezio, do you really believe that it ended with Lucio? We both know that there is more to it!"

"Why do you _need_ to know?" Ezio demanded, brow furrowed in anger, desperation. "I like the way things are now! There is no reason for you to change yourself! I'm happy with it!"

"I'M NOT!" I nearly screamed, my hands turning to fists that I threw down to my sides. "You don't know what it's like," I went off, anger seething through my teeth, "to have a black hole in your mind that hides secrets from yourself. You don't know what it's like to have some insecurity behind it all. You have family, fortune, a past, stability! I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" Ezio retorted back, reaching out to grip my shoulders. "Why does it matter what your old life was? How is it that Brindisi would explain it to you anyway? You'll find nothing, Narina, and you'll waste our time!"

"Could you just let me try?" I asked hotly. "What if there's more to it—if there's some organization out there looking for me and others like me, shouldn't I try to find a way to avoid it? To stop from being kidnapped again? Because apparently saving me is a complete waste of time!"

Ezio growled out in frustration, hands dropping from my shoulders as he rubbed his face. "Narina, you're not going. That's final."

"Fuck you," I spat. "I'm leaving."

"I'm not going with you."

"Good." I turned and went back into the Villa, hands still clenched and my mind racing with anger. How could he be so insensitive, so blind? What would it hurt just to know how to avoid my enemy? Ezio was too caught up in his image of a so-called perfect life that he didn't see the truth. I had to know the past so that I could avoid similar occurrences in the future. And I would figure it out with or without him.

To prove a point, I planned on setting out immediately. My anger still fueled my movements, my packing stiff and rigid. Ezio might not care, but I didn't want to be taken by surprise again.

Once I had a small pack, I headed out, ignoring Maria's look of concern as I passed her in the hall. Ezio was training with the recruit again, his movements more rigid and face set hard.

I made an effort to catch his eye as I walked by. When he caught my look, I waved a hand at him. "_Addio_, Ezio."

"Narina," he growled, rolling his eyes and holding down his practice blade. "Quit throwing a fit and stop this nonsense."

"I can do this without you, Ezio," I reminded him. "I don't have to depend on you."

He narrowed his eyes, the shadow of his furrowed brow blocking the gold of his eyes. "Then you want to leave? Fine. Go on your search for nothing. I'll even pity you when you come back because I'm so kind."

I sneered at him. "Burn in hell, asshole." With that, I turned and stormed down the courtyard stairs, more than ready to get the hell out of there and prove my independence. I didn't need Ezio to function in life. I didn't need anyone.

Storming into the stables, I threw down my pack and called out to the stable-hand, who scrambled up from a sleep in the hay. I impatiently waited for him to strap on the saddle, tapping my foot in the dust as I looked up at the clear sky, the sun hanging like a jewel in the middle of the sky. I could make it to Florence just after nightfall. Then I would stay at Paola's and go check out the library the next day. Once I found something, I would come back and rub it in Ezio's face that I wasn't chasing after nothing.

Just as the stable-hand was finishing his job, a mercenary came wandering in, laid back with baggy clothes. "Narina," he called, making me look at him. "Mario requests that I go with you to Florence. It's the time of the year where bandits are everywhere."

"I can handle it," I insisted, but the man ignored me, quickly saddling his own horse.

"I'm under orders here, Narina," he muttered. "Don't get me under fire now."

Sighing, I realized that it would be nice to have company. Traveling alone wasn't entirely that fun. And it was a calming factor to remember that Mario cared about my safety. Enough to make me realize that it was probably Ezio making the order instead of the Uncle. With that, the anger subsided, knowing that the man I loved cared about me, that his busy schedule and mission kept him from joining me himself. But I still needed to do this. I had to figure out what was going on.

We were headed out of the Monteriggioni area within the next five minutes.

* * *

The sun crept so slowly in the sky, making the journey seem longer than it really was. The mercenary rode beside me, chatting about random things to keep up the conversation. The further we went, the more I realized that I was going to actually figure out what the hell was going on. The idea thrilled and terrified me.

We couldn't have been on the road for that long—two hours at most, when we decided to take a break. Lucky for me, the mercenary had packed lunch—I had been in such a hurry that I had forgotten. We ate in a calm silence, enjoying the breeze and the long, open plains lipped with rolling hills and stretching mountains. Despite how much I had traveled in the earlier month, I loved the country side.

"Let's be off,"I announced, standing from the ground, brushing my backside off. "Florence awaits!"

"Aye, aye." The man stood and stretched, his thick arms held above his head. Suddenly, he froze, his eyes widening before he shifted, moving so fast that it shocked me. "Look there," he breathed, suddenly at my side, holding my elbow.

I turned and looked to where he was squinting. A cloud of dust. Riders. "Who is it?" I asked, trying to peer across the distance.

"I'm no sure. One of ours?"

My heart nearly leapt from my chest. What if Ezio had changed his mind and was coming with me? I smiled, knowing that he would come around eventually, and waved to the figures, calling out Ezio's name. The figures, closer now, were clad in white and gray, making my assumptions true, making my heart beat faster. Ezio actually came.

"I don't think..." The mercenary trailed off, eyes squinting harder.

The figure riding at the head of the group pulled out a sword, the metal glinting in the sun. My hand stopped mid-wave, dropping. "Shit. That's not Ezio."

"No, it ain't. Who is it?"

The beat of my heart stumbled, tripled. How could it be? "Shit!" I swung away from the man's touch, going for my horse. "We have to go!"

"What?" The man listened to me, though, clamoring up onto his mount. "Who is it?"

I felt sick to my stomach. "It's Lucio." And he didn't look too happy.

Maybe if I had realized that it was an enemy sooner, and maybe if I hadn't been hoping that it was Ezio so much, I could have gotten us out of there sooner. Lucio and his little group caught up to us quickly, riding right behind us and the mercenary and I tried to spur our horses faster.

There was a scream, a horses scream. A man's scream. The splatter of blood on the ground. I couldn't even close my eyes against it before I was down too, the horse dropping out from under me, flinging me across the ground. My head was sliced, hitting against something hard.

The world was spinning, my mind reeling. No. Ezio had been so sure. There was blood coming from my head. I could feel the warmth and goopiness. There was some sort of screeching in my ear, a ringing, a warning. My world was upside down.

Through it all, I heard the God-forsaken voice that I had thought to never hear again. "Tsk, tsk. Silly Narina." I couldn't focus, my eyes open but nothing was seen. Movement; I was being lifted. "Haven't you gotten it through your think head yet? You cannot run from me." The wound on my head was touched, the blood being smeared. "You know, I should be more upset with you. Your assassin nearly killed me."

Finally, sense came. "I wish he had," I managed, putting a harsh bite to my words.

"I'm sure you do. But I'm here and Ezio is not."

I saw him, then, the icy blue eyes, the insincere smile. "How foolish of him to let his little chit run around on her own. He deserves to lose you."

"Why are you doing this? What are you looking-?" Something was shoved into my mouth by a rough hand, tying my mouth shut before my words finished.

"I'm tired, Narina," Lucio hummed. "It'd be best for both of us if you kept you mouth shut at this point. I'll lose my patience." My arms were roughed tugged behind me, tied tightly so there would be no attempts for escape. "Knock her out," Lucio demanded. "I don't want her thinking that she can run this time."

There wasn't any pressure. The world just suddenly darkened, my hold on consciousness slipping and failing.

* * *

When I awoke, I was tied down to a horse, literally treated as some sort of luggage. My mouth had been stuffed, my legs tied down so that I couldn't move. The horse that I was upon was tied to wasn't moving, instead tied to a tree, shuffling on its feet.

Their voices came to me, all familiar—the same lot from before. How could they follow Lucio? Why would they? What would be great enough of a reward to hunt down and hurt someone like me? I moved my head, glancing over the rough made saddle, scratching my cheek. A few yards away, the whole lot of men were sitting around a fire, eating and talking. Lucio's icy eyes glowed in the firelight, like cat-eyes glowing in the shadows. The sky was dark, night had fallen. I recognized the trees, the mountains, even as they were shadows. We were headed to Venice—why? Not another trip across the country.

I began to feel stupid for leaving without any proper protection. Even if Ezio didn't believe it, I should have been more prepared for an attack. Then I was mad at Ezio for not believing me. Then scared because I knew I wouldn't escape a second time.

What a better way to learn Brindisi's secrets then to go there myself?

My stomach twisted. God, I was hungry. And I had to pee. I doubt that they would allow me that luxury though—I knew that I was to be punished to sit in my own waste and starve.

"Hey." Muffling a surprised gasp into my gag, I whipped my head around to look where the voice came from. A small, mouse-like man was squatting down beside the horse, peering up at me with sharp, dark eyes. "You awake." I could just stare at him, trying to judge whether he was a threat or not. "Boss says not to listen to you. That your words be poison." If he took the gag off, I would show him just how poisonous. I moved to look away, not wanting to deal with him, when my stomach ached out, moaning loudly for some kind of substance.

I heard the man shift. "You're awfully pretty though. Guess it goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover, eh? Here." He was holding something out, making me look back. There was a roll in the palm of his hand, making my stomach twist. "If you don't tell no one, I won't." He reached for my mouth, tugging at the gag until my mouth of free. I automatically spit out the gag, and he caught it in the air. My mouth opened wide, begging for food, keeping my voice down. "Good girl," he crooned, smirking as he placed the roll in my mouth.

As I chewed, I muttered out, "Don't flatter yourself."

He said nothing else, letting me finish the roll. Finishing the last of it in a hard swallow, suddenly Lucio's voice came cutting through. "Hernao! What are you doing?"

The gag was shoved back into my mouth, the cloth tightened around my jaw. "Nothing!"

"God, you are stupid!" With a glance, I saw Lucio storming over, fists clenched, jaw set, eyes narrowed. Good Lord, he was terrifying. "How the hell can you mess up watching a stupid girl?"

"I'm sorry, I just-!"

Lucio held up a hand to silence the blubbering man. "I want to hear none of it! Feeding the prisoner! Please! You will die for your incompetence!"

The man fell to the ground, bowing down so his nose touched the ground. "No, please! I-I am sorry, Lucio!"

A blade was unsheathed and the party went quiet. Struggled against my bonds, trying to make Lucio take the punishment on me. I knew it wouldn't work—but I had to try.

The mouse-like man, with his head bowed down, was decapitated in one fatal slice. Blood was everywhere. I felt sick to my stomach.

Lucio cleaned off his blade with the headless body's shirt, putting the sword back in it's sheath. "Haven't you learned yet, Narina," he growled, icy blue eyes pinning on me. "I am not above killing my own men. Another death upon your hands."

With the nastiest glare that I could muster, I stared at Lucio, vowing that if I ever got the ropes untied, I would strangle him.

But Lucio didn't seem to notice. His attention was directed away, to the forest that surrounded us. The anger left from his sharp eyes, but suspicion settled in place. He turned, peering into the darkness. "Something's wrong," he muttered, then gestured to his men. "Get in position. We're not alone."

All of them jumped to their feet, surprisingly fast in how quickly they assembled. They stood, surrounding the area, eyes all on the shadows that danced in the firelight. I glanced around with what limited mobility I had. What was going on?

There was a rush of the wind, or something that climbed through the trees. Lucio moved with the noises, keeping his guard up, the men following in suite. I saw the flash before I heard the whistle. One of the men gurgled loudly, falling to his knees, then to his face, a dagger slide into his throat.

Lucio growled. "Whoever you are, come out and face us!"

Then he dropped, like his knees had buckled, and with a glance, I saw that another small blade was protruding into the back of his knee. The horse danced away from the action, whinnying loudly, my body shifting with the movement. There was a flash of white in the firelight, nearly blinding as it pounced onto one of the men, leaving a bloodbath as it bounded away, back into the surrounding shadows.

"Fuck," Lucio breathed, hand gripping at his wounded leg. "Kill him!"

Just then, the white came back, and I noticed the hood. My salvation. Ezio had come for me. I felt like crying in relief. He moved with such agility that I had never noticed before, like he was dancing between his enemies. I struggled harder against the ropes, the material rubbing my wrists raw, but I didn't care. Ezio was there.

It was surprising to see how quickly the bodies fell, how easily they were taken care of. Watching how Ezio dropped them like flies made it seem like they hadn't been very great captors at all. Even more surprising was watching as Lucio tried to crawl away into the shadows, leg limp, pain scrunching his face. Before he could make it to the edge of the area, though, the assassin stepped on the hurt leg, making Lucio scream in such pain that even I felt some sort of sympathy for him.

As I watched, I saw as Lucio was turned over by the toe of a boot, the fear flashing in his eyes as his mouth opened to try to strike a bargain of sorts. But then the boot went over his neck, right over the jugular, and with a sickening twist of the leg, Ezio snapped Lucio's neck. Those icy blue eyes fell to me as they faded, the life ebbing away with such slowness that I felt the wave of nausea return.

The hooded figure stood straight, head swiveling around, popping once or twice. Then shaking out his hands, he turned and looked at me. Smiling.

"Narina. Good to see you again."

My stomached dropped.

_Tamair_.

* * *

**Awww Yeah. Tamair back up in the house!**

**Seriously, though, going along with the last version, you all had to see this coming.**

**Once again, sorry for the horridly long wait. I'm such a slacker!**

**GOD now I'm super excited for this story! I love Tamair! He's my baby! :D**

**Sorry that he wasn't in this chapter much, but I promise the next ones will be him. A lot of him. I didn't want this chapter to revolve around sexual relationships between Ezio and Narina. I feel like that was too much of a focus the first time around.**

**Anyway, thanks for the patience, and make sure to check out "The View From Up Here"! :D**

**Review!**


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